Though far from perfect, Michigan State’s defense is addicted to stopping the run

In the game of football, there are a few adages that hold true almost every time. One of them is that it is hard to lose a game when the defense doesn’t give up any points. From this point of view, the Michigan State defense got off to a great start on Friday night against the Broncos of Western Michigan.

While the Spartans weren’t perfect, it is hard to find much fault in the defensive box score. The Green and White gave up just 217 total yards and 10 first downs. The Broncos did not run a single play inside the Michigan State 20-yard line.

The defense also did not allow a single point, as Western’s Michigan only score came on a pick-six when former Spartan defensive backTate Hallock intercepted a pass thrown by MSU backup quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and took it to the end zone in the fourth quarter.

“This is a good starting point for our defense,” Spartan linebacker and junior captain Jordan Hall said following the game. “Not allowing any points defensively is a big accomplishment … But there’s still a lot of mistakes that happened out there today and a lot of ways we can improve.”

Giving up the big play

The one area where the Michigan State defense struggled the most was in giving up explosive plays. Western Michigan had three pass plays of 30 yards or more and two quarterback scrambles of at least 10 yards. These five plays accounted for 142 of the Broncos’ 217 total yards (65%).

One of these explosive plays came on the first play from scrimmage: a 35-yard deep ball along the sidelines against Spartan cornerback Joshua Eaton. When asked if this play was a result of the Michigan State defense not being quite “buckled up” early in the game, Hall pushed back.

“I’m just gonna correct you just a little bit there,” Hall said politely to the media, but with firm confidence. “We’re always ‘buckled up.’ Things don’t always go the way that we plan, but that’s a foundation of our defense: being able to respond when things don’t go our way.”

Apart from those five explosive plays, the Spartan defense did respond. Western Michigan only gained a total of 75 yards (1.44 yards per play) on the other 52 snaps. The Michigan State defense gave up only 29 yards on the ground which was good for 1.2 yards per carry.

The return of the pass rush

Another encouraging stat was that the much-maligned pass rush was credited with eight quarterback hurries and four sacks. In 2024, Michigan State went six full games during one stretch without recording a single sack. Friday night was a welcome change on this front.

Hall recorded a sack, as did senior safety Malik Spencer, defensive end Jalen Thompson and redshirt freshman Anelu Lafaele.

According to Hall and his teammates, getting more pressure on the quarterback is something that has been emphasized in the entire off season. According to redshirt junior defensive lineman Alex VanSumeren, the strong performance against the run and the pass rush go hand-in-hand.

“To get to that situation (of rushing the passer), the first thing you’ve got to do is stop the run,” VanSumeren said. “That’s a huge emphasis … Something that I take pride and that the whole room takes pride in, specifically, is stopping the run.”

Redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Matthews III agreed. 

“When opportunity presented itself, I feel like we stepped up in a huge way as far as pass rush,” Matthews said. “Like Alex (VanSumeren) said, first we have to stop the run to get there.”

Strength in numbers

Another factor that contributed to the success of the Spartan pass rush and rush defense is a concept that may have been borrowed from Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo. Hall used the phrase “strength in numbers” to describe the rotation, especially in the front seven.

The box score reveals that Michigan State played a total of 30 players on defense Friday night, and 26 of those players took at least 10 snaps. Thompson was the only Spartan defensive lineman to (barely) play more than half of the defensive snaps.

“Collectively, as a team, everybody plays their part in the rotation,” Hall said. “Whether you’re the ones (a starter) or whether you’re a rotation guy, everybody plays their part in keeping everybody fresh, which makes us outlast other teams.”

“The best D-lines, they rotate,” VanSumeren added. “They have to. It’s a very physical position.” 

Both Hall and Vansumeren also emphasized the idea that no matter which player is on the field, they expect there to be no drop off. They are confident that even the younger, less experienced players will be able to execute when needed.

Reflecting on the first game

With a very solid defensive performance in the books, as the evening drew to a close, the Spartan players were given the chance to reflect on what it meant to be back on the field again in Spartan Stadium.

“This is my first season opener starting and being a captain of this program,” Hall said. “So this is huge for me to open it up with a win and a defensive shutout.”

Matthews was excited that he notched the first interception of his college career. VanSumeren explained his excitement in a slightly different way.

“The season opener is always huge,” he said. “When you haven’t played for so long, it’s something you crave. I crave it, you know, like an addict craves something.”

While the Spartan defense was not perfect in the first game, there were a lot of positives. In the final analysis, the Green and White defenders did not allow a score and their team got the win. Once again, VanSumeren explained it best.

“Everything you do is either a one or a zero,” he said. “It was a one (a win) for us today. There are some things that we’ve got to clean up, but we’ll do that, and then we’re on to the next one.”

For Michigan State, the next team up is the Boston College Eagles, who will come calling next weekend to Spartan Stadium. Kickoff is set for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be broadcast on NBC and streamed live on Peacock.