Defense stole the show in Michigan State football's opener against Western Michigan. The Spartans were one of just three Big Ten teams to not allow a single defensive point in the season opener, joining Wisconsin and Purdue.
Michigan State did give up six points, but that came on a pick-six late in the fourth quarter thanks to an errant pass from Alessio Milivojevic.
The Spartan defense held its own, allowing just over 200 total yards and forcing a turnover en route to a 23-6 win. The defense responded well to a couple of chunk plays in each half, holding the Broncos out of the end zone and really away from field goal range for most of the game. An Ade Willie bat-down on a fourth-down pass in the first half doesn't get enough credit for setting the tone on Friday.
The real star of the show on Friday night was the run defense. It held Western Michigan to just 29 yards on 24 carries, and the longest run of the day was a 23-yard scamper by Broc Lowry. The longest run by star running back Jalen Buckley was 12 yards -- he had nine carries for 21 yards.
Michigan State's run defense is arguably the strength of the team right now, and that plays perfectly into the Spartans' hands for a Week 2 battle with Boston College.
The secondary will be tested, seeing as the Eagles passed for nearly 500 yards in a season-opening win over Fordham, but they had just 98 yards on 38 carries, averaging 2.6 per touch. Again, this was against an FCS program. Averaging 2.6 yards per carry against Fordham and then going to face a team that allowed 29 total rushing yards on 24 carries in the opener is not a recipe for success.
Run defense vs. run offense is the first real advantage that Michigan State has over Boston College with the Week 2 matchup approaching.