“I just give my credit to the linemen and all my 10 other guys out there on the field,” Holtzclaw said. “Personally, I’ve had a hard game, I think I could always do better, I take my hat off to the 10 other guys out on the field.”

2) Despite the successes of Holtzclaw and safety Jacob Wyatt, who also recorded 12 tackles on the afternoon, MSU dominated Eastern Michigan at the line of scrimmage, creating huge creases for MSU rushers.

Led by senior running back Javon Ringer, MSU ran the ball a whopping 52 times for 238 yards. Ringer finished with a team-leading 135 yards and five touchdown runs.

“Obviously a Division I-AA team, a powerhouse Big Ten team, there’s a lot of difference there,” Holtzclaw said. “Personnel-wise, they are a lot bigger, faster and stronger.”

3) With his team down 21-7 in the third quarter, Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk opted to fake a field goal about four yards away from MSU’s goal line. The Eagles snapped it cleanly but didn’t get enough push inside, allowing the Spartans penetrate the middle and stop the ball carrier a couple yards short of the end zone. MSU marched down the field on its subsequent possession and scored to build a commanding 28-7 lead.

“We really felt we had a high percentage to make that fake,” Genyk said. “It may have been a little aggressive to go for four yards instead of just a couple, but I really felt we needed to find a way to get seven points.

“It was an aggressive call, obviously we are coaching to win the football game, and so we needed to try for seven points at that time.”