Michigan State football: 3 takeaways from huge win at No. 16 Illinois

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 05: Jarek Broussard #3 of the Michigan State Spartans runs the ball as Sydney Brown #30 of the Illinois Fighting Illini makes the stop during the first half at Memorial Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

2. The run game showed some life

I won’t even lie, I wanted to completely abandon the run game heading into this game.

Michigan State hasn’t had a push in the run game all season and the only time the Spartans had success running the ball was against Akron and Western Michigan in non-conference play.

But despite some questionable play-calling (I’ll reserve some judgement), the run game had some nice plays and Jalen Berger had one of his best games of the season. He finished with 81 yards on 15 carries, averaging more per touch than the nation’s leading rusher on the other side of the field. Jarek Broussard added three carries for 13 yards and a nifty touchdown run.

Elijah Collins ran hard on limited carries as well.

The zone reads for Berger seemed to work to perfection and that’s something that needs to be a regular in the playbook moving forward.

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