In front of a rather somnolent crowd at Ford Field, Your Spartans upped their record to 2-0 with a victory over the Florida Atlantic Owls. MSU went up early, took a 20-7 lead at halftime, and then produced a thoroughly mediocre second-half performance. The defense struggled mightily in third down (FAU converted 7-16) and fourth down (2-2) situations, and was repeatedly gashed for chunks of yards by FAU's tight ends and underneath receivers. Oh, and the tackling wasn't the best, either. If you have visions of Kyle Rudolph putting up 100+ receiving yards next week, well, you're not the only one.
But it wasn't all bad. Edwin Baker was outstanding, rushing for 183 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries. Le'Veon Bell was also very good, with a bad fumble excepted. The offensive line was great in run blocking, and did a fairly good job of giving Kirk Cousins time to throw. The defensive line was also better; Jerel Worthy and Colin Neely had good games. Most notably, Dan Conroy was outstanding: 3-3 on field goals, and they weren't chip shots either (41, 44, 50). Kevin Muma was also much better kicking off this week. Any concerns about the kicking game should be alleviated.
Anyway, it wasn't all pretty, and without Howard Schnellenberger's bizarre decision to kick a field goal from the 2 yard line late in the fourth quarter, it could have been an ancy finish. But it's still a win, and a helluva lot better than last season's week 2 result. What impressed or disappointed you about the game today?
Also, there's a great afternoon of football ahead; feel free to use this as an open thread for those games.
GO STATE.