Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State Football: Midseason report card for 2021 Spartans

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State's Jayden Reed, left, celebrates his touchdown against Nebraska with teammate Jalen Nailor during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.210925 Msu Nebraska 124a
Michigan State's Jayden Reed, left, celebrates his touchdown against Nebraska with teammate Jalen Nailor during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.210925 Msu Nebraska 124a /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 8
Next
Michigan State’s Jacub Panasiuk, right, celebrates his sack with teammate Maverick Hansen during the third quarter in the game against Western Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211002 Msu Wku Fb 187a
Michigan State’s Jacub Panasiuk, right, celebrates his sack with teammate Maverick Hansen during the third quarter in the game against Western Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211002 Msu Wku Fb 187a /

Defensive Line: A-

Without a doubt, the strength of Michigan State’s defense has been the line. The guys up front don’t get enough recognition for how solid they are and the depth has been great.

Let’s start with the veteran and sack leader Jacub Panasiuk. He currently leads the team through six games with 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss on his 18 total tackles. He said before the season that he wants to leads the Big Ten in sacks and he has his work cut out, but he’s on the right track.

Now onto the surprise player: Simeon Barrow. The freshman defensive tackle has 22 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. He has been fantastic up front this year.

Jeff Pietrowski has also been a surprise with 19 total tackles, four tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks, moving from linebacker to an edge rushing position.

Jacob Slade has 17 tackles and a sack, Drew Jordan has 12 tackles, Maverick Hansen has 11 tackles and two sacks, and Drew Beesley had 11 tackles and 2.5 sacks before his injury.

I’d like to see more from Dashaun Mallory, Michael Fletcher, Tank Brown, and Jalen Hunt, but this group has been really good for not being fully healthy.

Home/Spartans Football