Sparty spoils Broncos’ afternoon in 49-14 win

By Mike Feld
Western Herald

(Chyn Wey Lee/Western Herald) Western Michigan University senior running back Brandon West tries to avoid Michigan State University cornerback Jeremy Ware. West had a 80 yard touchdown run during the Broncos 49-14 loss to Michigan State University Saturday.

It may have been a battle of two teams in similar situations. But on this day, there was no question which team was superior.

Behind 602 total yards of offense, Michigan State University ran away with a 49-14 victory over Western Michigan University at Spartan Stadium Saturday afternoon. The 73,910 in attendance began to trickle out by halftime, as MSU compiled a 35-0 lead that was never relinquished.

“I’m going to say it pretty stiff: They’re better than us,” head coach Bill Cubit said.

The Broncos did as much damage to itself as the Spartans did as the game progressed. On defense, WMU was flagged three times for late hits on the quarterback in the first quarter. All three penalties were committed on third down tries for Michigan State.

“We had them; we stopped them on third down,” Bronco sophomore linebacker Mitch Zajac said. “If we don’t make those penalties, we get off the field and it gives our offense a chance to go and score.”

Offensively, it wasn’t much better. On WMU’s first drive, senior quarterback Tim Hiller fumbled the ball as he succumbed to pressure from the Spartan pass rushers on a third down play. The play led to MSU’s second touchdown of the afternoon.

It wasn’t the only flop on offense, however. Dropped passes to wide open receivers become a norm, and when those passes were caught, penalties took its toll on previously successful drives. It was almost as if a season’s worth of maturation suddenly vanished on one Saturday afternoon in early November.

“I wish I had a great answer for you,” Hiller said of the offensive woes. “It takes all 11 guys on the same page – offense and defense – to all have that sense of urgency; that sense of intensity.”

Hiller finished the day 15-of-37 passing with 111 yards. He did not throw an interception and earned his 94th career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, back with being sacked three times in the defeat.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG9bg0hdZKg[/youtube]

Meanwhile, the Spartan offense continued to flow with surgical precision throughout the game. By halftime, MSU had compiled 358 total yards of offense. At least five receivers had at least 50 yards through the air at the break. 
It was the notion that WMU had been in this position for that set off alarms for this team early and help paved the way for the quick stat.

“They’ve played the role of spoiler here,” head coach Mark Dantonio said of the Bronco wins over the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa in the past two seasons. ”I think that got our guys’ attention. I think the fact that they’re a Michigan football team gets our guys’ attention and where we were at. We needed this win and to be 5-5 and to be able to reach our goals.”

(Chyn Wey Lee / Western Herald) Western Michigan University sophomore wide receiver Robert Anheim receives a pass from Tim hiller during Saturday afternoon's game against Michigan State.

Sophomore running back Ashton Leggett – third on the depth chart and filling in for ailing Spartans Glenn Winston and Larry Caper – had 100 yards on the ground through two quarters with three touchdowns.

“I’m very happy for Asthon Leggett,” Dantonio said. “I knew he’d have an opportunity to play with Caper being down with the head pretty much the entire week. It speaks to the quality of running backs we have on this football team.”

Leggett finished with 115 yards off four carries and added four touchdowns to his resume.

“Coaches make decisions that they feel best fit the team,” Leggett said of the opportunity. “I had to stay patient and wait my turn.”

Spartan sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins was even more impressive, going 22-of-25 for 353 yards and two touchdowns.

“Obviously coming off the past two tough losses, I felt like guys might not have that step [of motivation]. I said, ‘If you don’t have it, look to me, ‘cause I’ll have it and jump on my back.’ That was my message. As a captain, that’s your job,” Cousins said.

WMU showed signs of life at the start of the third quarter. The Broncos got on the board after junior running back Brandon West took off 80 yards on the first place from scrimmage in half No. 2. This came after West became the all-time Division I FBS leader for kick return yards earlier in the matchup.

The Brown and Gold then found pay dirt again on the first play of the fourth quarter. Hiller found freshman tight end Blake Hammond for career touchdown pass No. 94, capping off a 11 play, 80 yard drive that lasted nearly five minutes.  The drive was efficient and was reminiscent of WMU’s play on a good day. It also cut the lead to 35-14 and put the Broncos right back into the contest with plenty of time left.

However, someone forgot to tell the Green and White about that. Abandoning the run-first, clock chewing game plan, MSU went back to airing it out following the Bronco score. Moving 80 yards in seven plays, the Spartans eventually reached the end zone again. Leggett ran it in from 17 yards out for his fourth touchdown of the day.

“I give the kids credit,” Cubit said of the Broncos. “At halftime, they went back out there and got it [to] 35-14. And then we give up that [touchdown] right after that and that of sealed the deal there.”

For WMU, it may have been a tough afternoon. But considering the youth of the team and the hostile environment of Spartan Stadium, Cubit is still hopeful that his young players will improve as time progresses.

“I wish I had a great answer for you,” Hiller said of the offensive woes. “It takes all 11 guys on the same page – offense and defense – to all have that sense of urgency; that sense of intensity.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axpc1s9V_18[/youtube]

You just got to keep working through it and try to find that magic button,” Cubit said. “You’ve got to remember, these guys were playing in front of one or two thousand people in Yellow Bird [buses] last year. And now you’re asking them to go play in a Big Ten [stadium].”

Western Michigan will wrap up the final two weeks with Mid-American Conference play, taking on two struggling teams – Eastern Michigan University, a 0-9 team, and Ball State University, a 1-8 team.

“We’ve got to stay fighting,” West said. “We’ve got to go out there and try to get these next two. This was a down week. This game’s gone now. We’ve got to come out hard next week.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Nov 7 2009. Filed under Breaking, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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