Western Michigan Broncos vs Michigan State Spartans Match Player Stats On Aug 30, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 31, 2013

Michigan State 26, Western Michigan 13: The Spartans pulled away late against the visiting Broncos behind a stellar performance by their defense, which scored two touchdowns and forced four turnovers, including two interceptions by Jairus Jones.

Michigan State spoiled the head coaching debut of Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck by holding the Broncos to 204 yards in total offense. The Spartans’ defense set the tone with 6:27 left in the first quarter, when Jones intercepted Tyler Van Tubbergen and flipped the ball to Kurtis Drummond, who ran 21 yards for a touchdown.

Van Tubbergen was 6-of-20 passing for 73 yards with two interceptions before leaving in the middle of the second quarter with an apparent head injury. The Broncos tied the game at 7 with 1:29 left in the first half when redshirt freshman Zach Terrell replaced Van Tubbergen and tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Clark Mussman.

The Spartans led the Big Ten in total defense in each of the past two seasons, and the unit was in midseason form against the Broncos. Kevin Suma kicked two field goals in the third quarter to give Michigan State a 19-7 lead, and the Spartans added to their lead with 9:16 left to play when Marcus Rush caused Terrell to fumble and Shilique Calhoun picked up the ball and ran 16 yards for a score.

Terrell was 12-of-28 passing for 120 yards and two touchdowns for Western Michigan, which fell to 2-12 all-time against Michigan State and lost its ninth consecutive season opener. The Broncos, who ranked 10th in the MAC in rushing offense last season, were held to 11 yards on the ground and were 4-of-20 on third-down conversions.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Quarterbacks Andrew Maxwell and Connor Cook completed a combined 17 passes for 116 yards for the Spartans, who have won their last 15 home openers. … The game was delayed for 56 minutes early in the second quarter because of lightning. … Jeremy Langford had 20 carries for 94 yards and gave Michigan State a 13-7 lead with 45 seconds left in the first half when he scored on a 2-yard run.