Michigan State Football: Offense must find identity vs. Western Michigan

Michigan State football faces Western Michigan Saturday night. Can the Spartans ‘skin the cat’ by getting their offense going against the Broncos?

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio said during weekly press conference Tuesday that, “There’s only so many ways to skin a cat. At the end of the day you’ve got to skin the cat.”

The Spartan offense has another opportunity Saturday to get it going against Western Michigan. The Broncos’ senior signal-caller Jon Wassink had an outstanding game versus Monmouth, tossing the pigskin for 368 yards and five touchdowns.

Wassink also had solid sophomore and junior campaigns and is a legit threat in the vertical passing game. Western Michigan’s leading rusher was LeVante Bellamy with 53 yards, which bodes well for the Spartan defense.

The Bronco defense allowed Monmouth’s Pete Guerriero to rush for 107 yards which could be a positive for a Spartan offense trying to find itself. I look to Connor Heyward to have himself a day with over 100 yards on the ground.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s matchup:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 7
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: East Lansing, Mich.
Venue: Spartan Stadium
TV: BTN
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go

Keys to Victory

Brian Lewerke and the offense need to get on track and find their identity. Are they going to be a pass-heavy team or a run-heavy one or will the Spartans be more balanced? No matter what the plan is, the Spartans need to figure out what works and run with it. Outside runs or between the tackles? With the personnel the Spartans have, they need to play to each player’s strengths. Get the run game going early which will open up the aerial attack.

This MSU defense is the real deal, in fact it is better than advertised. On a defense that is this good it is easy to pick on guys like senior cornerback Josh Butler, but he is a good defensive back on an excellent defense and when you may a mistake it stands out. Western Michigan will definitely be targeting him so he needs to come prepared and get his head turned around on those deep balls. Freshmen wideout DaShon Bussell had 116 yards receiving last week so the Spartans need to limit him.

Prediction

The Spartans get it done on the ground. This is a good game for Michigan State to tweak things on offense before the competition gets tougher.

Final Score: Western Michigan 10, Michigan State 35