What MSU Felt Went Wrong in Second Half vs. WMU

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 10:33 PM ET

Michigan State got off to a hot start in its win over Western Michigan on Friday.

The Spartans led 21-0 at halftime and even had an opportunity to add 3 to the board with a field goal attempt just before the break. The second half, however, made the ultimately results look a little deceiving, as Michigan State's offense went scoreless through the final two quarters.

The defense continued to hold up its end of the bargain, though, earning a safety and once again holding the Broncos' offense scoreless, as Western Michigan's only points came off a pick-six thrown by the Spartans' backup quarterback, Alessio Milivojevic.

What Jonathan Smith Had to Say About Second Half

So, what went wrong in the second half?

"Give them (Western Michigan) some credit -- they got some good coaches over there, and maybe it's halftime adjustments without diving into the tape schematics," said coach Jonathan Smith. "I do think on the edge, for them, they did a couple nice jobs on our tackles a couple of times.  I mean, we had a couple deep shots open, we just couldn't get the ball off. So, give them credit for some of the pressure they were able to create on the quarterback."

Michigan State produced just 131 yards in the second half, including a mere 80 passing yards on six connections.

"First half, energy and adrenaline came out," said junior quarterback Aidan Chiles. "Came out shooting. Came out fired up. Second half, I think they made adjustments. But at the same time, we got to come out and execute, and we didn't do our job. At the end of the day, we got the win, so I can't really be mad, but at the end of the day, we need to be better. We just got to finish stronger."

Not too much should be made of the second-half production. It wasn't often that the Spartans got out to sizeable leads last season, so they didn't have much familiarity with how to deal with such a situation. And it can be easy to let your foot off the gas against an inferior opponent, especially in Game 1.

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