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

By Connor Muldowney

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)
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 : Xavier Henderson (3) of the Michigan State Spartans reacts after sacking quarterback Noah Vedral #0 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during a game at SHI Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
PISCATAWAY, NJ – OCTOBER 09 : Xavier Henderson (3) of the Michigan State Spartans reacts after sacking quarterback Noah Vedral #0 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during a game at SHI Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images /

Secondary: C

It was another shaky performance from the defensive backfield on Saturday afternoon as missed tackles and poor coverage led to 267 passing yards and a touchdown from the Scarlet Knights.

Noah Vedral was really doing whatever he wanted through the air early in the game, but the defensive backfield settled in and forced him to a 50 percent completion rate. His backup came in and didn’t fare much better as the Scarlet Knights finished the day 21-for-40 through the air, but they had a lot of drops.

It wasn’t a terrible performance from the defensive backfield, but it was still the clear weakness on this side of the ball as the defensive line played well and the linebackers were much better in the second half.

After Rutgers’ first drive, I would have given the defensive backfield a D- grade, but they gradually improved throughout the game. There are still too many weaknesses back there.

Xavier Henderson played well again with seven tackles and a tackle for loss, Darius Snow led the team with nine tackles, Angelo Grose had eight tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and a pass breakup, and Michael Dowell and Chester Kimbrough each had four tackles. Marqui Lowery played well in his first action of the season as he looks like the ideal aggressive cornerback.

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