Michigan State Football: 5 players to watch vs. Wisconsin
Just as it had appeared that L.J. Scott had won a very close battle to become Michigan State’s workhorse running back, Gerald Holmes had a career game. Holmes, who had seemingly been relegated to third-string back before the Notre Dame game, broke out against the Irish for a game-high 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
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The impressive performance included both a 73-yard sprint to the end zone and a physical three-yard touchdown — not exactly the kind of plays you see from a third-stringer.
It has become clear the Spartans are seriously loaded at running back — not just a group of mediocre backs unable to separate themselves to win the job. While Holmes did the majority of his damage in the second half, Scott carried the load for MSU in the first half, finishing with 98 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own. It was quite the one-two punch, to say the least.
While the Spartans’ change-of-pace back Madre London did not see the field against the Irish, all three Spartan running backs are listed as co-starters again in MSU’s latest depth chart. While one would expect Scott to get the starting nod again given his consistency so far this season, the Badgers have to be scrambling at the prospect of bringing down all three of these backs following Holmes’ exploit of Notre Dame’s rush defense.
Expect MSU to look to establish the run early with Scott and work in either Holmes or London depending on who is most effective against the Badgers.