Michigan State Football: Report card from win over Western Kentucky

Secondary: C-

I’m being fairly generous here, but there’s a reason for this grade. While giving up 488 passing yards is far from ideal, holding Bailey Zappe to a season-low yards per attempt provides a slight glimmer of hope in an otherwise struggling position group.

Scottie Hazelton, Mel Tucker, and Harlon Barnett installed a “bend but don’t break” game plan for this game against the nation’s most prolific passer, and it worked out.

Yes, the defensive backfield gave up a ton of yards but his 7.6 per attempt was his lowest average of the year. They gave up a few big throws which is why the grade is so low, along with the fact that there were no interceptions and a lot of missed tackles, but the game plan was followed and even though it may not have made fans happy, it led to a win.

Not many defensive backfields hold up against 64 pass attempts.

Angelo Grose led the team in total tackles with 16 tackles and a pass breakup, Michael Dowell had seven tackles, Chester Kimbrough had six tackles, Darius Snow had five tackles, and Ronald Williams had four tackles. In a surprising development, Xavier Henderson had just three takedowns.

Not a great showing for the secondary, but it did just enough.