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Michigan State Football: Report card for epic win over No. 6 Michigan

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State's Kenneth Walker III avoids a tackle by Michigan's R.J. Moten during his touchdown run during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211030 Msu Michigan 223a
Michigan State's Kenneth Walker III avoids a tackle by Michigan's R.J. Moten during his touchdown run during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211030 Msu Michigan 223a /
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Michigan State defensive end Jacub Panasiuk (96) defends Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara (12) during the first half at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021.
Michigan State defensive end Jacub Panasiuk (96) defends Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara (12) during the first half at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. /

Defensive Line: B

I’ll be the first to admit that I was a little disappointed in the defensive line on Saturday. While they did a solid job stopping the run, which is why they earned a B here, there was next to no pressure on Cade McNamara all game long. The Spartans weren’t able to find their way into the backfield to get pressure on Cade and he was able to have the best game of his career.

If you’re wondering why Cade was able to throw for over 350 yards, equal blame can be put on the defensive line and secondary. Heck, the linebackers struggled to defend the pass as well.

But the line didn’t generate any sacks, only contributed with one QB hurry (the other was by Justin White) and no tackles for loss. Yes, the only tackle for loss the Spartans had was from Xavier Henderson. That’s less than ideal.

It was nice to see Drew Beesley back and that’s a huge boost to this line, especially if Jacub Panasiuk can remain healthy, but he wasn’t able to generate a ton of pressure.

This group stopped the run by plugging holes, but there just wasn’t a ton of production here.

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