Michigan State Football: 3 takeaways from road victory against Miami

1. The Spartans made plays defensively

One of the reasons that it made so much sense to hire Mel Tucker as head coach is Michigan State’s reputation for tough, hard-nosed, physical defense. Coach Tucker made his bones as a defensive coach.

The Spartans did give up a lot of yards against the Hurricanes today, however, Miami was one-dimensional for the entire game. The Hurricanes ran for just 52 yards with leading rusher, Cam’Ron Harris, having 44 of those yards.

King, usually a plus athlete in the running game had just seven yards as he was visibly hampered by his leg. The Hurricane’s inability to run led to King throwing 59 times this afternoon.

What Michigan State did well in addition to neutralizing the run was create turnovers. The Spartans forced four turnovers, all by D’Eriq King. Michigan State’s pass rush got to King three times, exposing Miami’s mediocre offensive line.

Despite the 388 passing yards, the Spartans secondary did not do a bad job against Miami’s receivers. Charleston Rambo had the lion’s share of the catches and yards. The Hurricanes averaged 6.4 yards per attempt which is average.

The Spartans did a good job of not allowing Miami’s receivers to get down the field for big plays. Miami hit just two plays of over 20 yards.