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Mark Dantonio pleased with performance, confidence from MSU offense
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Finally.
After Michigan State’s opener against Tulsa, those same questions about the inconsistent and incoherent offense started to resurface. A sound 28-7 win to open the season was muffled by the glaring woes on the offensive line, and at the running back position.
In one game, the Spartans looked a lot similar to the 2018 version, which wasn’t a good thing. But things cleared up in the second week, and in a big way.
Michigan State recorded a 51-17 win over Western Michigan on Saturday, proving it has plenty of offense in the tank. It was the first time the program has hit the 50-point total since the season finale in 2015, a 55-16 victory over Penn State.
Mark Dantonio seemed much more pleased than he was a week ago about the offense’s performance.
“It’s all about consistency in performance,” Dantonio said, according to Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press. “Now, you gotta stack that next week. And then you get more confidence, more sure of yourself.”
The Spartans ran the ball extremely well on Saturday, totaling 251 yards on 34 attempts. They were led by Elijah Collins, who churned out 192 yards on 17 carries in the victory.
Michigan State also cleaned up the slop a little bit this week, committing just two penalties throughout the game. Last weekend, the Spartans committed 14 penalties, nine of which came on offense.
It’s far from a finished product, but for the first time in two years, the Spartan offense has show some life. It comes just in time for a Power Five matchup against Arizona State in East Lansing next week.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB