During a four-minute span of Saturday's game, MSU played complacently and its defense gave up big plays, allowing Eastern Michigan to score 17 points.
But for the other 56 minutes, the offense dominated and the defense stifled the Eagles en route to a 52-20 win at Spartan Stadium.
"It was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride," head coach John L. Smith said. "I'm proud of our kids. After getting their tails chewed a little bit at halftime, they came out and responded and played pretty darn good in the second half."
After falling behind 3-0, the Spartans (2-0) scored 24 straight points, capped off by a 35-yard touchdown pass from senior wide receiver Matt Trannon to redshirt freshman running back A.J. Jimmerson off a reverse.
"I was getting a little paranoid because I didn't see anybody," Trannon said of the play. "Then I saw A.J. all by himself, so I just threw it."
Trannon also had 14 catches — a school record — for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Plaxico Burress, now with the New York Giants of the NFL, held the previous record.
With almost three minutes left in the half, Eastern Michigan (0-2) found the end zone with a trick play that had wide receiver Dontayo Gage throwing a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Travis Lewis to close the gap to 24-10.
The Eagles converted a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and used a second trick play to get within scoring distance. Another touchdown pass pulled Eastern Michigan to within seven at 24-17.
"With the exception of two plays defensively, we played good. But we just fell asleep," Smith said. "We got a little bit complacent, a little bit lax with our eyes."
The Spartans received boos from the fans as the first half closed and also heard a heated halftime speech from Smith in the locker room.
They responded.
After Eastern Michigan converted Javon Ringer's fumble into three points to start the half, the Spartans ripped off 28 unanswered points and held the Eagles scoreless the rest of the game.
MSU's offense broke out for 586 total yards. Senior quarterback Drew Stanton led the way, completing 24-of-32 passes for 254 yards with three touchdowns and an interception — on MSU's first offensive play — in more than three quarters of work.
Stanton also rushed for two touchdowns — both on similar option runs in which he faked a pitch to the running back.
"We did a great job coming out and executing our game plan, getting out there and making plays," said Stanton, who became the sixth MSU quarterback to top 5,000 career passing yards with a second-quarter touchdown-pass to Trannon. "It was a team effort because the defense stepped up and shut them down in the second half."
The Spartans also racked up 264 yards on the ground. Sophomore running back Javon Ringer led the way with 130 yards, including a career-long 65-yard run in the second quarter that set up Matt Trannon's diving 17-yard touchdown to make the score 17-3. Jimmerson — appearing in his first game as a Spartan — added 70 yards on the ground to accompany his two receiving touchdowns.
Outside of the two trick plays, MSU's defense held the Eagles to 195 total yards, including just 42 rushing yards on 28 attempts. Eagles quarterback Tyler Jones, who ran for 164 yards the week before, was able to squeeze out only nine yards on the ground.
"Our game plan was to stop him, and that's definitely what we did," said junior defensive tackle Ogemdi Nwagbuo. "Our (defensive) ends did a good job of keeping him contained."
For the second straight week, sophomore free safety Otis Wiley led the MSU defense with eight tackles, including two for losses. Junior Ervin Baldwin and senior David Stanton each recorded a sack to lead a more aggressive defensive line that helped hold Eastern Michigan to just 5-of-15 on third downs.
Junior running back Jehuu Caulcrick sat out the game with a sprained foot, but could have played if needed, Smith said. Ringer injured his ankle in the game, but Smith said both Ringer and Caulcrick should be ready for Saturday's game at Pittsburgh.
