Michigan State football: 3 things we learned from Western Michigan win

Michigan State football pulled away against their in-state Group of Five opponent on Saturday. Here are three takeaways from the Spartans win over Western Michigan.

For a while it looked like Western Michigan might put another scare in a team named after former Hellenic territories. Last week it was the USC Trojans who were put on upset alert by the Broncos. This week, Michigan State looked in danger of tumbling against last year’s top Group of Five team.

Instead, the Spartans steadily added to the scoreboard with points in every quarter. Building a 14-0 lead by halftime, the Spartans lost the shutout on a fumble return in the third quarter. But Michigan State continued metronomically churning out points, and ended with a 28-14 victory over Western Michigan to move to 2-0 on the season.

There were some bright spots for the Broncos. Darius Phillips did have another 100-yard kick return for a touchdown after taking one to the house against USC last week. They held the Spartans under 200 passing yards after flustering Sam Darnold and the Trojans last week. But ultimately their production was largely thanks to one dynamic threat on defense and special teams.

Michigan State made it one step closer toward bowl eligibility after falling to a losing record in 2016. They looked far better than the Pac-12 South favorites against a tough MAC opponent, at the very least. Here are three other takeaways from Michigan State’s win in Week 2 over Western Michigan.