Michigan State Football: 5 things we’d like to see from Spartans in October

2. Secondary shutting down short/intermediate routes

Especially with the month kicking off against Northwestern, the team that essentially wrote the blue print a year ago of how to beat the Spartan secondary, Michigan State must find a way to shut down quick routes.

Against Central Michigan, the defensive backfield looked much improved. Justin Layne played well against the short routes, making a few plays on slants, outs and crossing patterns, Khari Willis stepped up to make jarring hits on would-be pass-catchers, David Dowell was finally in the right place at the right time and Tre Person held his own at the other corner spot.

Josiah Scott may not be back any time soon, so the pressure will be immense for this group of defensive backs to shut down the short routes while also shutting down the deep routes.

Michigan State has been great against the deep-ball this season, but if it can shut down those short passing routes, there’s no telling how good this defense can be.

Not many teams can hold the ball long enough to get passes down the field against this team, so it’s time to dial up press coverage and play more aggressively within 5-10 yards.