Michigan State Football: Report card for bounce-back win over Northwestern

Michigan State football needed to get off on a positive note to start Big Ten play and did just that with a blowout of Northwestern.

It was what all Michigan State fans needed to see, a dominant 31-10 win on the road over a team that made the Big Ten title game a year ago and has had the Spartans’ number over the past few seasons.

The Spartans came out and scored in three minutes, silencing all the “can’t score in the red zone” talk thanks to a Elijah Collins and a hot start by Brian Lewerke. Things stalled out through the remainder of the first and most of the second quarter as the offense veered away from the run and Lewerke’s accuracy waned.

Lewerke bounced back at the end of the half, throwing a crucial touchdown pass to Cody White with 30 seconds left and then keeping that momentum in the third quarter to finish with 228 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-31 passing.

The offense could have scored 40-plus, but the staff didn’t want to take any chances with a 31-3 lead in the second half and put the backups in, running the ball for no gain most of the way.

Sure, it’d be nice to see Mark Dantonio keep the foot on the gas sometimes, but he’s just not that type of coach. Michigan State was clearly the better team and showed it for 60 minutes as Dantonio became the all-time winningest Spartan coach.

Which position group graded the highest for the Spartans on Saturday?