A look at Sparty

Michigan State is coming into South Bend Saturday night for a primetime showdown under the lights with a 1-0 record.  It was a 28-13 win over the Furman Paladins and truth be told I had to google information about Furman as they don’t have representation on ESPN.com as they are a FCS school.  By the way Paladins were warriors for Charlemagne.  But I digress, here is a snap snapshot of the Spartans so far this year.

Against Furman

Only led in time of possession 30:29 to 29:31

Passing: 190yards, all by Tyler O’Connor who went 13/18 with 3 touchdowns and an interception.

Rushing: 171 yards by 8 players led by L J Scott who had 105 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.

Receiving: 13 passes were caught by 6 players led by Monty Madaris with 5 reception for 85 yards.  3 players caught passes for touchdowns; Davis, Price and Lyles.

Kicking Game: Michael Geiger was 4 for 4 on extra point with no field goal attempts.  Jake Hartbarger averaged 44.7 yards with a long of 58 on 3 punts.

Return Game: R.J. Shelton returned 2 punt for 19 yards and a kickoff return for 18 yards.  Darrell Stewart Jr. averaged 26 yards per kickoff return.

Penalties: Michigan State was flagged 10 times for 120 yards.

Defense:  Riley Bullough had 8 tackles (4 solo 4 assisted including 1 for a loss) and 2 quartedback hurries while Andrew Dowell had 1 interception.

Obviously Furman was not a great test of what Michigan State has in store for the Irish add to that The Spartans had two weeks to recover and prepare for Notre Dame it is hard to say how good or bad for that matter this week’s opponent really is.