Michigan State 41, Eastern Michigan 13: 9 things we learned

EAST LANSING — Michigan State beat Eastern Michigan 41-13 at noon Saturday at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans are 2-0. They play at Notre Dame on Saturday.

Michigan State had 495 total yards and 27 first downs and averaged 8.3 yards a play. It converted 8 of 10 third downs. It did not punt, did not turn the ball over and was not penalized. It has one penalty in two games.

Eastern Michigan had 316 yards and 14 first downs. The Eagles converted 4 of 11 third downs, punted three times and turned the ball over twice.

Here are nine things we learned.

1The run game did not work early. Then it moved.

Michigan State opened the game with a possession of eight plays, did not hand the ball off on any of them, and scored. When the Spartans did run it, it went nowhere. Cam Edwards gained 21 yards on his first eight carries.

Eastern Michigan defensive tackle Warren-Stevens Tayou was the reason. He had all four of the Eagles’ sacks and spent the first quarter in the Michigan State backfield.

Michigan State stopped running at him. Beginning late in the first quarter the Spartans used two and three tight ends, moved Jayden Savoury across the formation, and ran to the outside instead of between the guards.

Edwards gained 137 yards on his last 14 carries. Michigan State finished with 209 rushing yards on 39 attempts.

“We were running gap scheme directly at the best player on their defense, which is a stupid thing to do,” head coach Nick Mansour said. “So we went around him.”

2Leo Hannan played his whole game before halftime

Hannan finished 16 of 21 for 286 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 222. He also ran for a 1-yard touchdown.

Two hundred of those yards and both touchdown passes came in the first half. He threw 15 passes before halftime and six after it.

He has not thrown an interception in two games. He has been sacked four times, all on Saturday.

3KK Smith is the No. 1 receiver

Smith caught seven passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns, with a long of 44 and no drops. Through two games he has 14 catches for 241 yards.

Eastern Michigan cornerback Caleb Dobbs covered him for most of the afternoon and did not stay with him. The first touchdown was a back-shoulder throw in the end zone. The second was a 44-yard throw down the sideline on third-and-1.

Michigan State went for it on fourth-and-3 before halftime and threw a slant to Smith into two defenders. It was incomplete, and it was the only possession all day that did not end in a score or a kick.

4The first-half defense was poor

Eastern Michigan gained 238 yards in the first half and led 10-7 in the second quarter.

Running back Braydon Bennett had 18 carries for 111 yards and eight catches for 55, and most of it came before halftime. Michigan State missed tackles on him repeatedly.

The Spartans were adequate on first and second down and poor on third. Eastern Michigan converted four of its first six third downs. “The main thing all half was we wasn’t getting him down,” said linebacker Jordan Hall, who had 11 tackles and an interception.

5The second-half defense was not

Eastern Michigan gained 78 yards after halftime and converted none of its last five third downs. It scored three points in the second half.

Michigan State sacked Noah Kim twice. Dion Crawford had one. Derrick Simmons had the other, plus two tackles for loss, a week after a difficult opener.

Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi was asked what changed. “We took some things out,” he said. “What was left is stuff I’ve been running a long time. And then we tackled better.”

Tre Bell intercepted Kim with four minutes left and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown. It was the loudest the stadium has been this season.

6Charles Brantley had a second straight bad game

Brantley was beaten for a 44-yard touchdown by Nick Devereaux in the second quarter. He was alone in man coverage with no safety help, lost the receiver on an inside stem and never recovered. Devereaux was uncovered when the ball arrived.

Brantley also missed a tackle on Bennett in the flat that gained 20 extra yards, and gave up a 22-yard completion on third-and-9 in the fourth quarter that led to Eastern Michigan’s second field goal. Last week he allowed both of Grambling State’s completions, each on third down.

Brantley is still Michigan State’s kick returner. He had three returns for 58 yards. He was not removed from the defense at any point Saturday and Michigan State has announced no change at cornerback.

Mansour was asked about the touchdown and answered about the call. “I called a five-man pressure and rotated the safety away from that side,” he said. “That’s my call.” He does not discuss individual players.

7The interior offensive line is still the problem

Michigan State allowed four sacks, all to Tayou. Left guard Nick Sharpe allowed two. Right guard Luka Vincic allowed one. Center Rustin Young allowed one, on a stunt.

Left tackle Ben Murawski and right tackle Conner Moore did not allow a pressure.

This is the group Michigan State has said all year is its least settled, and the fix Saturday was to run away from it rather than through it. Notre Dame has a better defensive front than Eastern Michigan does.

8Kicking, and the things that did not happen

Liam Boyd missed a 43-yard field goal, his only attempt of the season, and made five of six extra points. Punter Rhys Dakin did not punt and has one punt in two games. Michigan State was not penalized. Jayden Savoury scored his first career touchdown, from a yard out in the fourth quarter.

9Notre Dame is next, and nobody knows what Notre Dame is

Notre Dame beat Rice 52-10 on Saturday. Two weeks ago it lost 38-10 at home to Wisconsin. Before that it lost to Miami by 36. It was ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll and is now receiving votes.

Michigan State plays there Saturday. It is the first road game of the season and of Mansour’s head coaching career at this level.

Mansour was asked Sunday whether Notre Dame is wounded or dangerous. “I don’t know, and I’m not being coy,” he said. “I watched both of them Sunday morning and I have no idea which one is them.”

Expect Michigan State to be favored by a small number and expect that number to move all week.