Michigan State Football: Report card for win over Michigan in Week 6

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ANN ARBOR, MI – OCTOBER 07: Raequan Williams #99 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a win over the Michigan Wolverines and carries the Paul Bunyan trophy after the game at Michigan Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan State defeated Michigan 14-10. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

A-. . DL. Michigan State. DEFENSIVE LINE

Raise your hand if you expected the defensive line to win the battle in the trenches against Michigan. Although Michigan’s offensive line had struggled mightily heading into the game, not many expected the Spartans to have quite the push that they did have.

The young defensive line, and Demetrius Cooper, seemed to dominate up front, and that led to plenty of unplanned scrambles by John O’Korn and even some ugly throws which resulted in three interceptions. He was under distress all day long and the defensive line was to thank for a lot of that pressure.

Gerald Owens recorded his first sack of the season, Jacub Panasiuk played well on the edge, Kenny Willekes had two sacks and looked like a stud and Naquan Jones, Mike Panasiuk and Raequan Williams provided a major push in the middle.

Moreover, they helped to hold Michigan’s run game in check. The big guys plugged holes and the defensive line forced the Wolverine running backs to look for space that wasn’t there, resulting in 2.9 yards per carry.

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