Michigan State Football: Report card for win over Indiana in Week 8

One of the bright spots of this year’s team has to be the play of the defensive line. Despite losing plenty of talent in the offseason, the Spartans have seemed to exceed expectations and silence critics, recording more sacks through six games than they had in the entire 2016 season.

Sure, a good chunk of the sacks have come from linebacker blitzes, but that doesn’t mean this line is not doing its job. In fact, it’s going one heck of a job getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, collapsing pockets and also stopping the run.

Teams continue to run on the Spartans, but the front-seven has been great against the rush. They rank near the top of college football in that regard. On Saturday, the unit allowed just 95 total yards on 2.7 per carry. These big guys up front closed holes before they could ever open up.

Former walk-on Kenny Willekes once again led the way at defensive end with six tackles while Raequan Williams was right there with him, also with six, at tackle. The latter, however, had 0.5 tackles for loss and the two combined for three quarterback hurries. The team, as a whole, had eight.

Mike Panasiuk and Jacub Panasiuk each had five tackles while the latter had a sack. Demetrius Cooper has two tackles and 0.5 for loss with a hurry and both Naquan Jones and Brandon Randle contributed with a nice rush.

Still, not enough as Michigan State had only one sack. That needs to improve, especially with Peyton Ramsey’s 34 pass attempts.