By Robert Bondy
rbondy@statenews.com
Coming into the week No. 8 MSU knew exactly what it needed to do in order to pick up a crucial victory over No. 21 Nebraska — stop the run.
After 60 minutes of play on a soggy night in Spartan Stadium, it’s safe to say that’s exactly what MSU accomplished.
MSU held Nebraska to 47 total rushing yards en route to a 27-22 victory on Saturday evening to start Big Ten play off on the right foot. Entering the week, Nebraska was averaging 354.8 yards per game on the ground — ranking No. 2 in the nation — but junior defensive end Shilique Calhoun said stopping the run was something MSU was set on accomplishing tonight, especially after Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini stated the Huskers could run on MSU no matter what.
“You never want someone to talk about you that way but it’s something we try to do each and every game,” Calhoun said. “Stop the run is something we need to do each and every game.”
A lot of MSU’s run defense success came from keeping the Huskers’ top running back in check. Heisman candidate Ameer Abdullah was held in check for nearly the entire game, finishing with 45 yards on 24 carries. A nine-yard run was the longest Abdullah got all evening, posting his worst outing of the season.
Following the game, defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was pleased with the team’s effort to contain the Huskers rushing attack. Narduzzi pointed to the defense’s ability to shut down the Nebraska run game in the first half to take them out of their element by playing from behind.
“It all starts off in the first half, I think they had 13 yards as I looked at the quickie stats at halftime,” Narduzzi said. “In the first half, that was the game really as far as stopping the run. We shut down the run about as well as we’ve stopped it against these guys and that was the key to the game. We made it a passing game.”
While MSU has had a dominant defense in the past and has been solid through most of this season, some questioned the unit. Sophomore linebacker Riley Bullough considered Saturday a statement game in regards to proving the defense is still top of the line in East Lansing.
“We definitely made a statement and showed what we can do,” Bullough said. “We understand what kind of defense we are, what kind of guys we have and we know we lost guys from last year. We all know that, but I think we got guys stepping up and filling in and I think we are going to be a great defense.”
