I’m proud of the defense, the way they played the game,” Williams said. “They challenged themselves this week. They didn’t let down. – Jamaal Williams
BYU 31, Michigan State 14
EAST LANSING, Mich. — It wouldn’t have surprised anyone to see Saturday’s BYU-Michigan State game go down to the final minute or the final play.
But apparently the Cougars wanted to be done with the drama.
Playing like a Big Ten team in Big Ten country, BYU scored 28 second-half points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, and stomped the Spartans, 31-14, before a crowd of 74,214 at Spartan Stadium.
The Cougars (3-3) put together a complete game and, not coincidentally, they avoided a close game for the first time this season. Their previous five contests were decided by three points or less.
“It was a little weird,” BYU linebacker Fred Warner said of the blowout victory that sent thousands of green-clad Spartan fans heading for the exits midway through the final quarter. “It’s awesome that we did it in this type of fashion. Michigan State is a team you grow up watching on TV. It’s a special one.”
BYU’s smash-mouth performance was something coach Kalani Sitake had been waiting for all season long.
“Having all those close games earlier, I think, paid off this week,” he said, adding, “we challenged our guys to own the line of scrimmage.”
“As the game continued to go on,” said Michigan State coach Mark D'Antonio, “(BYU) seemed to get a little stronger.”
Behind the senior leadership and playmaking ability of quarterback Taysom Hill (138 yards passing, 47 yards rushing and one touchdown) and Jamaal Williams (30 carries, 163 yards, two touchdowns), BYU’s offense scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half.
The Cougar defense gave up a 72-yard drive for a touchdown to Michigan State on the Spartans’ opening possession, but it didn’t allow MSU to score again until late in the fourth quarter. In between, Michigan State had only 59 yards of total offense.
“All three phases were clicking,” Sitake said.
However, the Spartans seemed to pick up where Toledo had left off the previous week by scoring relatively easily on its opening drive.
“They came out and they didn’t do anything that we hadn’t seen on film,” Warner said. “Our biggest problem was the missed tackles. Coach told us we needed to get our eyes up and wrap up, and that’s what we did.”
BYU scored its first points on a 35-yard field goal by Rhett Almond as the first half expired. The Cougars trailed at halftime, 7-3.
Little did anyone know, it would be all BYU from there.
“We hit some adversity early on," Sitake said. "It seemed like they were up 7-0 for a long time. Our guys kept fighting through. The second half was ours.”
Michigan State received the ball to start the third quarter, and BYU forced a punt. The Cougars scored on their ensuing seven-minute, 73-yard drive that culminated with a touchdown pass from Hill to Colby Pearson. It gave BYU its first lead, 10-7.
“We wanted to start fast in the second half,” Sitake said, “and we did.”
“It was 10-7 at the end of the third quarter, and we were sort of hanging defensively,” D'Antonio said. “And then all of a sudden, we couldn’t tackle them.”
In the fourth quarter, BYU scored on a 70-yard drive after a 12-yard TD run by Hill and another on a 32-yard drive that was set up by cornerback Michael Davis' first career interception and 40-yard return. Williams capped that drive with an eight-yard run. At that point, the Cougars had scored 24 unanswered points.
“It was a little frustrating in the first half. We had everything we wanted and we didn’t score other than that field goal at the end of the first half,” Hill said. “Everybody realized that we came out a little tentative in the first half and we certainly weren’t going to finish the game that way.”
A week after surrendering 53 points and nearly 700 yards to Toledo, the Cougars held the Spartans to 206 yards of total offense, including 85 on the ground.
“We had a chip on our shoulder,” Warner said. “We needed to stop the run and we did that.”
“I’m proud of the defense, the way they played the game,” Williams said. “They challenged themselves this week. They didn’t let down.”
For Michigan State (2-3), Saturday’s setback marked the first time the Spartans have lost three consecutive games since 2009.
“As I told our football team after the game, this program has been built on a pretty solid foundation,” D'Antonio said. “It has taken nine years to do that. It’s taken that long to get to where we’ve been. The ride up the mountain is very difficult at times, but the ride down can be very quick. The reality is that we’re a 2-3 football team.”
Not long ago, BYU was riding a three-game losing streak itself. But now, after a convincing road win in Big Ten country, the Cougars have won two in a row and their confidence is building.
“I’m definitely not surprised (about the win),” Hill said. “I don’t think anyone on our team is surprised. We knew we were very capable of playing the way we did and beating a good football team.”
BYU hosts Mississippi State Friday night.
EMAIL: jeffc@deseretnews.com