Michigan State’s good start ended with the Spartans’ 19-23 loss to Boston College on Saturday, despite having several chances to win.

Turnovers, missed opportunities and some defensive miscues ultimately determined the outcome of Saturday’s game. There were many of the positives we had seen in Michigan State’s first three games, but it was the mistakes from those games that continued and finally took their toll on the road against a formidable opponent.

Below is Spartans coach Jonathan Smith’s opening speech after the defeat:

Smith: “I want to give Boston College a little bit of credit first. I thought they battled for four quarters. The quarterback is a good player. They’re well coached, gave us some challenges in terms of plays and stuff, so kudos to them. On our side, we were able to make a few plays here and there. I thought defensively they had the reaction all night, the goal line stand, the early turnover in the red zone. We put them in a couple of bad situations early in the half – kickoff return fumble. And then on offense we lost the thing. And I thought those guys battled all night. On offense, the turnover part, we need to get better, we need to get better in the run game. Avoid negative yardage. We missed a couple opportunities, right? We caught Montorie (Foster Jr.) a couple times and missed it. Those things change the game. But those guys kept fighting and got us the lead when we got the lead. 19-16. This series starts, I think, at our own 2-yard line and they go all the way. Again, finishing in the red zone with some touchdowns would be great. And we just didn’t do that tonight. I think Jonathan Kim helped us tremendously in that game and those elements weren’t ideal to kick a ball, snap and hold and all that. So I was happy with that. Told the team afterward that we obviously didn’t play well enough to win the game. We still have some clean-up to do, but I like this team, I like their work ethic. We’re going to go back to work tomorrow and try to get better because we have to.”

Below is Smith’s press conference from last Monday: