Michigan State Football: 3 things we learned from win over Western Michigan

Michigan State football survived Darius Philips and Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon, but what did we learn?

The ‘No Fly Zone’ made an appearance for the Spartans. Michigan State controlled this game from the get-go, however, Darius Philips willed the Broncos to respectability with fumble and kickoff return touchdowns. He is a NFL prospect.

Michigan State seemingly toyed with WMU the entire game. The defense played well despite missing several tackles over the course of the game. This game was closer than it needed to be.

Here are three things we learned from the Michigan State victory.

1. Brian Lewerke is a weapon

Lewerke was the offense today. His 60-plus-yard run was the Spartans’ first score. He also threw to LJ Scott out of the backfield for a touchdown. I was surprised that MSU did not attempt to go down field this game, though. Mark Dantonio almost out of sheer nerves played this one close to vest. If not for the legs of Lewerke, then this game would have been closer and the Spartans would have been in danger of an upset.

2. The defense is a strength

Yes, that’s right. The defense is a strength for the Spartans. In fact, while the offense sputtered in the first half, it was the defense that held contain on the Broncos’ attack. It was something that USC was unable to do. Josiah Scott recorded his first interception of his young career. Josh Butler was impressive and Justin Layne was rarely heard from, which means he was able to blanket his man. The Spartans also answered the call to pressure the QB and sacked WMU’s Jon Wassink four times.

3. Turnovers and special teams still an issue

Lewerke threw an interception and almost had a fumble. Special teams seemed to have a lapse in judgment about half way through the game. It was as if MSU got comfortable and just believed it could kick to Philips.

Of course, Philips burned them for a touchdown. Michigan State also had self-inflected wounds with poor penalties and judgment. It was a typical Dantonio game that was dominated by MSU, however, you would never know it by the final score.

Next: MSU Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017

MSU has much work to do in order to be ready for the Norte Dame game. Hopefully the Spartans are able to work on the issues and possibly be less vanilla in the offense for that game.