Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from first month of 2018 season
1. This may be the best run defense Mark Dantonio has ever had
Do you recall a run defense being this dominant through four games? Michigan State has the No. 1 run defense in college football, allowing just 40 yards per game on the ground.
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That’s an incredible number if you truly sit down to think about it as no team has been able to hit the 100-yard mark on the ground against the Spartans.
Mark Dantonio has taken notice of the solid job the front-seven and defensive backs have done in stepping up to stop the run.
Dantonio says MSU is playing "as good against the run as we probably ever have."
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) September 30, 2018
That’s high praise, considering the 2013 team has had arguably the best overall defense during his time in East Lansing. The guys up front — Raequan Williams, Kenny Willekes and Mike Panasiuk — have done an excellent job of closing holes and not getting beat to the outside. The linebackers are also stepping up to stop the run and the backs aren’t afraid to make tackles in open space.
Michigan State will truly be tested in the next few weeks as it travels to Penn State to face Trace McSorley and Miles Sanders as well as when it hosts Michigan who has Shea Patterson and Karan Higdon.
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Still, this run defense has been phenomenal to this point in the year and may be the best in the Dantonio era.