No. 15/14 Michigan State scored two touchdowns in less than three minutes in the fourth quarter to break open a close game en route to a 35-13 win over Western Michigan in front of 73,928 fans at Spartan Stadium Friday night.
Redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne completed 12-of-24 passes for 233 yards and threw four touchdown passes to lead the way for the Spartans, while redshirt sophomore Jalen Berger had 16 carries for 120 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Keon Coleman caught four passes for 84 yards, including one touchdown, while redshirt junior wide receiver Tre Mosley had two catches for 51 yards and a score and freshman Germie Bernard caught a 44-yard touchdown pass.
Junior safety Angelo Grose and graduate linebacker Ben VanSumeren had 11 tackles apiece to lead the defense, while redshirt sophomore linebacker Cal Haladay and sophomore cornerback Charles Brantley each had 10 tackles. Senior linebacker Jacoby Windmon had seven tackles, four sacks for a loss of 17 yards and one forced fumble.
"I was proud of the effort from our football team tonight," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "Western, they're very well coached and they gave us everything we could handle, and I have a lot of respect for that football team. We've got a lot of work to do, but I like what I saw in the locker room after the game from our team and from our leaders. It's a hungry football team, and we know we need to get better, and it was just a very mature locker room after the game."
Western Michigan got on the board first as Palmer Domschke hit a 27-yard field goal with 6:31 left in the first quarter, but the Spartans scored touchdowns on their next three drives to take a 21-3 lead.
For the full game recap, visit msuspartans.com