Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from first month of 2018 season

4. Secondary is better than numbers indicate

Allowing 288 yards per game through the air isn’t exactly what anyone expected to see from the ‘No Fly Zone 2.0’, as it was dubbed during the offseason.

The Spartans returned all four starters to the secondary, but had to begin the season without star sophomore Josiah Scott who suffered a meniscus injury. That wasn’t expected to be a huge blow seeing as Josh Butler, Shakur Brown and Tre Person would be filling in just fine, but he has proven to be a tough guy to replace.

Still, with Butler, Brown and Person all getting snaps there, the side opposite Justin Layne has seemed like a revolving door, but has been solid since the opener against Utah State — that game was a bit shaky.

The number indicate that the secondary has had a bad season, but that’s not exactly the case. The coaching staff seems to be just fine with playing to allow short passes (screens, slants and outs) instead of deep balls. They rank 50th nationally, allowing 6.7 yards per attempt, and they’ve allowed just five touchdown passes and have picked off opponents seven times.

This secondary may allow a ton of yards, on paper, but it doesn’t miss many assignments nor let receivers get behind them.

The Central Michigan game was the first time this season the secondary made plays on the short routes and hit receivers as soon as they caught the ball — progress is also being made.