Michigan State Football: Report card from Week 6 road win at Rutgers

Michigan State Football: Report card from Week 6 road win against Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, NJ - OCTOBER 09 : Payton Thorne #10 of the Michigan State Spartans in action against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during a game at SHI Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Michigan State defeated Rutgers 31-13. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

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PISCATAWAY, NJ – OCTOBER 09 : Quarterback Noah Vedral #0 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights is sacked by Simeon Barrow #8 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first quarter of a game at SHI Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Defensive Line: A-

I’m actually really impressed with Michigan State’s defensive line and a few players stood out again on Saturday afternoon.

Simeon Barrow continues to be a pleasant surprise up front. He finished the day with four tackles and two sacks as he might just be the top performer on the interior in recent weeks. He has taken over at tackle and doesn’t seem to be looking back. He has a bright future ahead of him.

Dashaun Mallory also had a really good game, finishing with five total tackles and Maverick Hansen had his best game of the season with four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. Jacub Panasiuk added four tackles and 0.5 sacks and Drew Jordan was productive with four takedowns — I’d like to see more of this from Jordan.

Jacob Slade had four tackles and quite possibly the slowest 40-time ever recorded on a fumble recovery that had the potential to be a scoop-and-score — he was obviously brought down from behind. All jokes, but Slade had a good game.

This unit up front continues to be the strength of the defense and the depth here is fantastic.

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