Saturday, September 10
East Lansing, MI
4 P.M.
Michigan State University
52
vs
0
Akron
No. 14/11 Michigan State Shuts Out Akron, 52-0
9/10/2022 8:27:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 14/11 Michigan State improved to 2-0 on the season with a 52-0 shutout over Akron on Saturday afternoon in Spartan Stadium, accumulating nearly 500 yards in total offense, including 260 rushing yards.
The Spartans had six rushing touchdowns in the game, led by redshirt sophomore Jalen Berger, who had three TDs in addition to 107 yards on the ground.
Graduate running back Jarek Broussard had 15 carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Elijah Collins had eight carries for 57 yards and one score. Redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne completed 18-of-28 passes for 212 yards.
Senior linebacker Jacoby Windmon, had five tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles-for-loss, along with three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery to lead the defensive unit. Graduate cornerback Ameer Speed led the team with nine tackles, while junior safety Angelo Grose and senior defensive back Kendell Brooks had seven tackles apiece.
"Our goal was to get better this week in practice," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "We had a lot of things that we needed to clean up, and I felt like we came into the game as a better football team. We just had to go out on the field and show that, and play a better brand of football more consistently. Offense and defense especially, we needed them to complement each other for the entire ball game. I think our focus was better; our intensity throughout was better. There were a lot of good things for our team to build upon in all three phases."
Michigan State forced two early turnovers, which both resulted in touchdowns. On Akron's first drive, Brooks – who made his first career start at safety in the absence of Xavier Henderson – forced a fumble that was then recovered and returned 21 yards by Cal Haladay. The Spartans scored their first touchdown of the day on Broussard's 1-yard score at the 8:29 mark in the first quarter; it marked his first career touchdown for the Green and White.
Later in the first quarter, Windmon forced his second fumble in as many games, and MSU took advantage of the short field going 45 yards on eight plays, capped by a 1-yard Berger touchdown.
Windmon was at it again in the second quarter, recovering a fumble – Akron's third turnover of the half – setting up MSU for another touchdown drive. Berger scored his second touchdown of the day on another 1-yard run to make it 21-0 in favor of MSU with 2:16 left in the half.
Freshman Jack Stone connected on his first career field goal from 43 yards out with just one second remaining in the first half to put MSU on top, 24-0.
The Spartans were right back at it in the third quarter with four more touchdowns. Following a Spartan turnover to start the second half, Haladay forced the Zips' fourth turnover of the game on a sack fumble, which again resulted in an MSU touchdown. On the ensuing series, Noah Kim threw his first career touchdown pass with a 16-yard strike to Tre Mosley in the end zone.
MSU added three more rushing scores in the third to make it 52-0 in favor of the Spartans. Broussard scored his second touchdown of the game from 2 yards out at the 7:58 mark, while Berger scored his third touchdown of the game, a 2-yard run, to cap a 7-play, 60-yard drive with 3:59 left in the quarter. Collins capped the final scoring drive with a 1-yard run with 21 seconds remaining in the third.
Michigan State returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 17 at Washington. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ABC.
The Spartans had six rushing touchdowns in the game, led by redshirt sophomore Jalen Berger, who had three TDs in addition to 107 yards on the ground.
Graduate running back Jarek Broussard had 15 carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Elijah Collins had eight carries for 57 yards and one score. Redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne completed 18-of-28 passes for 212 yards.
Senior linebacker Jacoby Windmon, had five tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles-for-loss, along with three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery to lead the defensive unit. Graduate cornerback Ameer Speed led the team with nine tackles, while junior safety Angelo Grose and senior defensive back Kendell Brooks had seven tackles apiece.
"Our goal was to get better this week in practice," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "We had a lot of things that we needed to clean up, and I felt like we came into the game as a better football team. We just had to go out on the field and show that, and play a better brand of football more consistently. Offense and defense especially, we needed them to complement each other for the entire ball game. I think our focus was better; our intensity throughout was better. There were a lot of good things for our team to build upon in all three phases."
Michigan State forced two early turnovers, which both resulted in touchdowns. On Akron's first drive, Brooks – who made his first career start at safety in the absence of Xavier Henderson – forced a fumble that was then recovered and returned 21 yards by Cal Haladay. The Spartans scored their first touchdown of the day on Broussard's 1-yard score at the 8:29 mark in the first quarter; it marked his first career touchdown for the Green and White.
Later in the first quarter, Windmon forced his second fumble in as many games, and MSU took advantage of the short field going 45 yards on eight plays, capped by a 1-yard Berger touchdown.
Windmon was at it again in the second quarter, recovering a fumble – Akron's third turnover of the half – setting up MSU for another touchdown drive. Berger scored his second touchdown of the day on another 1-yard run to make it 21-0 in favor of MSU with 2:16 left in the half.
Freshman Jack Stone connected on his first career field goal from 43 yards out with just one second remaining in the first half to put MSU on top, 24-0.
The Spartans were right back at it in the third quarter with four more touchdowns. Following a Spartan turnover to start the second half, Haladay forced the Zips' fourth turnover of the game on a sack fumble, which again resulted in an MSU touchdown. On the ensuing series, Noah Kim threw his first career touchdown pass with a 16-yard strike to Tre Mosley in the end zone.
MSU added three more rushing scores in the third to make it 52-0 in favor of the Spartans. Broussard scored his second touchdown of the game from 2 yards out at the 7:58 mark, while Berger scored his third touchdown of the game, a 2-yard run, to cap a 7-play, 60-yard drive with 3:59 left in the quarter. Collins capped the final scoring drive with a 1-yard run with 21 seconds remaining in the third.
Michigan State returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 17 at Washington. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ABC.
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