Michigan State Cruises To Victory Over Western Michigan With Stout Defensive Performance

In what's viewed by many as a pivotal year for Michigan State, the Spartans began their 2025 campaign with a strong 23-6 victory over Western Michigan on Friday night. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead with just under 11 minutes left in the second quarter, and never looked back en route to their first win of the season.

Here's everything important that happened in the contest.

Living In The Backfield

Michigan State's defense was absolutely swarming the Broncos offense the entire contest, racking up four sacks and an impressive 12 tackles for loss. Western Michigan star running back Jalen Buckley was held to a meager 21 yards on nine carries, with the entire team only able to muster 29 total rushing yards. While they failed to recover any, the Spartans forced three fumbles and had the Broncos offense looking uncomfortable for all 60 minutes.

Their secondary was another major positive, forcing four incompletions and keeping the Broncos under 50% completions for the game. Junior linebacker Jordan Hall and junior defensive linemen Jalen Thompson were their top defensive performers, each tallying a sack and combining for four TFLs.

Spartans Left No Room For Doubt

It was a wire-to-wire victory for Michigan State in Week 1, and arguably their most impressive feat was simply never allowing the Broncos to work their way back into the game. The Spartans' 21-point first half did most of the heavy lifting, and an overwhelming defensive showing left Western Michigan without an offensive score.

MSU's gameplan was noticeably efficient, with much of their success coming through high-percentage plays. The execution of their scheme was solid, with few mistakes made by quarterback Aidan Chiles and a clear focus on limiting negative plays. Their defense constantly pressured both WMU signal callers, finishing the night with four sacks and a lingering presence in the backfield.

MSU Rushing Attack Showed Promise

Whether it was Makhi Frazier or Brandon Tullis, the sophomore duo flashed serious signs of excellent playmaking ability. The pair averaged 7.4 yards per carry on 21 touches, scoring twice. Sacramento State transfer Elijah Tao-Tolliver was essentially a non-factor in his eight carries, but Frazier and Tullis' emergence was more than enough to cancel out his struggles and then some.

Chiles also broke away for aa 26-yard chunk play, although he did continue to show some flaws with his pocket presence, resulting in four sacks on the night. With the passing game progressing but still a work in progress, the Spartans being able to more heavily rely on their rushing attack would be a pleasant surprise and important step toward their expected improvement from 2024.