Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from tight win over Utah State

Michigan State football opened the season with a so-so performance against Utah State, but a win is a win. What did we learn about the Spartans?

It wouldn’t be a Michigan State season opener if the Spartans didn’t go down to the wire with their non-conference foe. Utah State put up quite the battle against the Spartans on Friday night to open the season, nearly pulling off the upset in East Lansing.

Sure, there are a few reasons to be concerned, about the Spartans’ near-loss to a Group of Five team that barely made a bowl game a season ago, but a win is a win.

Everyone knew that a 23-point spread was a lot for the Spartans to cover, especially in the season opener, but at least the team knows what it needs to work on. Michigan State has plenty of work to do, but we did learn plenty about this team from Friday night’s squeaker.

What did we learn from the Spartans’ win over Utah State?

5. Offensive line needs a lot of work

To say the offensive line has a long way to go may be a bit of an understatement. Michigan State struggled to open holes all game long and even Brian Lewerke was sent running for his life on multiple occasions.

Utah State actually finished with more sacks than the Spartans, which shouldn’t have happened given the amount of experience returning on the line.

Mark Dantonio admitted that guys were moved around on the line quite a bit during the game to make up for the absence of left tackle Cole Chewins, but that shouldn’t be tough to overcome. The offensive line is essentially all returning from last year and no improvement was shown in Week 1 versus the Aggies.

Something needs to change before Michigan State heads to Tempe next week and into Big Ten action within the month.