On Saturday, Ashton Leggett stepped up.

Two weeks ago, the sophomore was on the scout team. Saturday, he became the hero and the first 100-yard runner of the season in MSU’s 49-14 rout of Western Michigan at Spartan Stadium.

“I’m very happy for Ashton Leggett,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “We knew he would have the opportunity to play with (freshman running back Larry) Caper being down with a head (injury) pretty much the entire week, so we decided to go in that direction. It speaks to the quality of running backs we have on this football team. I’ve said all along that tailback has been a position of depth and we have good players … and I think you saw that today.”

Leggett’s successful day began on just the third play of the game. On his first carry — just his second of the season — Leggett took a handoff, shifted to the left and saw nothing but green grass on his way to a 71-yard touchdown run to give the Spartans an early 7-0 lead.

“That was a great feeling, to be able to do that on the first carry in the game,” Leggett said. “But I know, as well as everybody else knows, that you ain’t gonna get them too many times.”

Leggett finished the game with 110 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 14 carries, becoming the first Spartan running back to run for 100 yards this season.

“It’s good to see more rushes than pass attempts (43 runs to 35 passes); that’s a positive,” offensive coordinator Don Treadwell said. “We talk about being balanced and we were able to do that today, certainly because we were able to run the football and then also, (sophomore quarterback) Kirk Cousins, he was pretty darn sharp.”

Cousins, who shared time with sophomore quarterback Keith Nichol, was extremely efficient, going 22-for-25 for 353 yards and two touchdowns.

“A quarterback is simply a reflection of the team and the offensive line was protecting very well, the tailbacks were picking up the blitzes, they were running well, creating plays when they weren’t there,” Cousins said. “The receivers were catching the ball and making plays, so it makes my job easy.”

Western Michigan hoped to answer Leggett’s early burst, but on the fifth play of their first offensive drive, quarterback Tim Hiller was sacked by MSU junior linebacker Greg Jones and senior defensive end Trevor Anderson and fumbled the ball to the Spartans.

With good field position, the Spartans moved down the field behind Cousins’ arm, but were stopped in the red zone on third down.

However, a roughing the passer penalty against the Broncos kept the drive alive. The Spartans took advantage, scoring two plays later on a 2-yard touchdown run from Leggett to go up 14-0.

With the extra point, senior kicker Brett Swenson became MSU’s all-time leader in extra points.

Later in the quarter, the Spartans were stopped in the red zone again, but another roughing-the-passer penalty against the Broncos on third down gave the Spartans another opportunity that they also took advantage of with a 13-yard touchdown pass on the next play from Cousins to sophomore tight end Garrett Celek to go up 21-0.

In the second quarter, the Spartans decided not to take as much time on a touchdown drive. With just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter, Cousins threw a 48-yard touchdown bomb to sophomore wide receiver Keshawn Martin to cap a one-play, 48-yard drive.

Cousins credited the play to the success of the MSU running backs.

“Having a run game, any time, opens up the passing game,” Cousins said. “The deep touchdown pass was simply a play-action pass where they had to honor the run and get behind the safety and complete the pass, so my job was easy today.”

With a 1-yard touchdown run by Leggett late in the half to put MSU up 35-0, the running back finished the most impressive half by a running back all season. Leggett ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries in the half.

Cousins finished an efficient half 15-for-17 passing for 249 yards and two touchdowns and the Spartans outgained the Broncos 358-36 in total yards in the first two quarters.

Coming out of the second half, the Broncos also showed they could strike quickly. On the first play from scrimmage, Western Michigan running back Brandon West ran straight up the middle for 80 yards to put the Broncos on the board.

“I thought coming out for the third quarter, we were a little bit flat,” Dantonio said. “As a football coach, that bothers you a little bit. But in the fourth quarter and the end of the third quarter, we got it back and finished the game strong.”

Shifting quarterbacks in and out, the Spartans offense was dead in the second half. Western Michigan finally put a successful full drive together, going 80 yards in 11 plays, converting on a fourth down, and scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 35-14.

With the Spartans offense struggling, the coaches decided to leave Cousins in for an entire drive. It paid off as Leggett, who had fallen below 100 yards, got back over the 100-yard plateau on a 13-yard run to give the Spartans a 42-14 lead.

The Spartans finished the game with 602 yards of offense — the most in Dantonio’s tenure as head coach.

For Leggett, his patience paid off.

“It felt real good. I came to Michigan State, knowing the tradition … and just to contribute to a win was a great feeling to me,” he said.

“That made my day.