A game that started strong for Michigan State football ended with a thud as the Spartans' 21-0 lead at halftime led to a second-half coasting that put a lot of fans to sleep in the final 30 minutes.
Michigan State was able to overcome a late pick-six to former Spartan Tate Hallock and a botched onside kick to beat the Broncos in the opener, 23-6.
It was a traditional sleepy win for the Spartans in the season opener. It feels like this happens on a yearly basis as the team gets out to a comfortable lead only to sleepwalk to the final whistle. Honestly, just burn the tape from the second half -- it was that ugly.
Here are three immediate thoughts on Michigan State's win over WMU.
1. Makhi Frazier is RB1
Going into the game, Michigan State had no clear starting running back, but that definitely changed. Makhi Frazier hit the ground running (literally), finishing with his first-ever 100-yard game.
Frazier showed a ton of patience and hit the open holes hard. He got plenty of help from the offensive line which looked really good on Friday in the run game, but he made a lot of impressive cuts and found small lanes to pick up extra yards in situations that would have been negative plays a year ago.
Brandon Tullis was solid and Elijah Tau-Tolliver didn't really get an opportunity, but Frazier looked like the best back, and it wasn't particularly close.
2. Aidan Chiles was bottled up
Whether this was planned or not (I'm leaning toward yes), Aidan Chiles was bottled up for the most part on Friday night, passing for 155 yards and a touchdown while adding a 26-yard rush, but he totaled just eight rushing yards thanks to a handful of sacks.
It felt like Brian Lindgren had the most conservative play-calling you could draw up in the final 30 minutes, but when he finally let him air it out in the final seven minutes, the Spartans got deep into Western territory until a fumble due to a missed block ended the drive.
Chiles was sharp early on, but you could tell he wasn't looking down the field late in the game, and it stalled every second-half drive. That was (hopefully) part of the Week 1 plan.
3. This defense has some grit
We all know the Detroit Lions have adopted the word "grit" to describe their organization, but Michigan State may have borrowed it on Friday night.
After giving up a couple of long passes in the first drive, the defense settled down and held the Broncos to just 217 total yards, and only 29 of those came on the ground. Michigan State swallowed up star running back Jalen Buckley.
Joe Rossi dialed up a lot of blitzes and made the quarterbacks uncomfortable, but some missed coverages allowed most of the yards.
The defense gave up zero points, and it dominated the final 55 minutes of the game.