Bloomington, Ind. - As MSU's offense battled inconsistency and turnovers in the first half against Indiana, its defense held firm, eventually carrying the Spartans to a comeback win against Indiana.
Sophomore quarterback Drew Stanton, with his spectacular running performance, was the face of MSU's 30-20 win, but the defense made his triumphant story possible.
Coming out of the locker room at halftime, MSU (2-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) was losing, 20-7. The defense allowed only one touchdown in the first half but was unsatisfied.
"We kind of came out sluggish at first and we can't really do that," said senior safety Jason Harmon, who recorded his second interception of the year Saturday. "We realized we were handing it to them basically on a silver platter."
Stanton and the offense began scoring with a punishing ground attack in the second half and the defense, determined to improve its first-half performance, put the handcuffs on Indiana (2-2, 0-1).
Evidence of MSU's smothering second-half defense: Indiana had -3 yards rushing, 41 total yards, two first downs and scored zero points in the second half.
Indeed, the Hoosiers had a variety of offensive weapons. Senior Matt LoVecchio is one of the Big Ten's most experienced quarterbacks. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis and receiver Courtney Roby are legitimate threats.
But in the second half, Green-Ellis never rushed for more than five yards and LoVecchio only completed one pass for more than 10 yards, a 19-yard strike to Roby.
"We scored 23 straight points on them in the second half and held them to zero," Ryan said. "That's what you have to do in the Big Ten."
The Spartans offense certainly did its part in the second half, while the defense shut Indiana down. Of the offense's turnaround, Stanton said it was time to match the defense's intensity.
In the first half, both the offense and special teams committed miscues, putting the Hoosiers in prime position to score. Stanton threw two interceptions before halftime and Indiana's Lance Bennett returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown, the result of poor downfield coverage by MSU's special teams.
"I was extremely disgusted with the punt team," head coach John L. Smith said.
The defense withstood Indiana's assault, aside from a missed assignment that allowed the Hoosiers to score their only offensive touchdown, a 12-yard pass from
LoVecchio to tight end Chris Rudanovic in the second quarter.
"We're in man coverage and one guy just lost his eyes," Smith said. "He should be looking at the tight end and forget about the play action."
At halftime, MSU's coaches realized the defense was not receiving play calls fast enough, causing slight confusion. To adjust, the coaches decided not to rely on information attached to defenders' wristbands to send in plays.
Instead, defensive coordinator Chris Smeland began directly signaling in plays from the sideline. Smith said he noticed improved communication within the defense in the second half as a result.
The Spartans travel to Iowa (2-2, 0-1) on Saturday for their second league game. Last season, MSU's win against the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten opener was the beginning of a 4-0 conference start. The Spartans are hoping their win against Indiana will spark a similar start to the 2004 Big Ten season.
"We're trying to fight up out of that doghouse right now," Harmon said. "We're trying to get some wins, trying to get some confidence, trying to get our swagger back that we had last year."
