“My line did a tremendous job so I have to give credit to them,” Baker said. “They just keep doing a great job. We wanted to make our running game a strength and I think we’ve done that.”

Sophomore kicker Dan Conroy opened the scoring early for the Spartans (2-0), knocking down a 44-yard field goal on the first drive of the game.

After the MSU defense forced FAU (1-1) into a three-and-out on its first posession, the Spartans scored their first touchdown of the game on a nine-yard run for freshman running back Le’Veon Bell.

But much like last week against Western Michigan, MSU slowed down after a hot start and allowed the Owls to march 76 yards in 15 plays for a touchdown on the very next drive to bring the score to 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Spartans scored 10 more points in the second quarter on a 30-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kirk Cousins to junior receiver B.J. Cunningham and a 44-yard Conry field goal to take a 20-7 lead into halftime.

A little more than four minutes into the first half, it appeared MSU was on its way to a rout when Baker ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the Spartans’ first offensive play from scrimmage.

“I’m a man that’s not gonna get caught from behind, so I knew I was going to score,” Baker said of what he was thinking during the run. “That was like running a race. I saw the finish line and just had to go.”

With Baker’s run giving MSU a 20-point lead early in the third quarter, the Owls appeared ready to throw in the towel. However, FAU and quarterback Jeff Van Camp once again produced a sustained touchdown drive following a Spartans’ score to pull within two scores at 27-14.

“Sometimes you get a big lead and you have to get over the top,” Dantonio said. “We have to learn how to reach, but they just kept hanging around.”

Unable to get off the field, the MSU defense allowed FAU to convert two fourth-down conversions on the Owls’ scoring drive. The problem was not new for the Spartans, as FAU converted on seven of 16 third-down conversions when the MSU defense had a chance to give the ball back to its offense, leading to a 29:53 to 15:07 advnatage in time of possession for the Owls after three quarters.

“Florida Atlantic has a very good football team and very athletic quarterback who broke the pocket on some plays and they have very good receviers,” senior defensive end Colin Neely said. “It’s always hard to get a team like that off the field.”

Fortunately for Dantonio and the Spartans, FAU was unable to capitalize on its opportunity in the fourth quarter.

Following a fumble by Van Camp inside MSU territory, Conroy nailed his third field goal of the day, a career-long of 50 yards, to make the score 30-14 in favor of the Spartans. The Owls would add a late field goal, to again pull with in two scores but would come now closer.

In addition to Baker’s big day, Bell followed up his strong week-one performance with 33 yards on five carries and a touchdown. Not needed to do much because of dominant running game, Cousins led MSU through the air with 142 yards on 9-for-17 passing, while Cunningham led Spartans receivers with two catches for 53 yards and touchdown.

Defensively, senior linebackers Greg Jones and Eric Gordon led all tackers with 11 each.

Although his team struggled at times in the first two weeks of the season, Dantonio said he simply is happy to have an unblemished record heading into an 8 p.m. matchup with Notre Dame next Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

“We’re excited to go 2-0,” Dantonio said. “As I said before, we work to get better, we’re chasing perfection.”