If it wasn’t already established through the first three games, it’s
safe to say MSU is no longer known for being just a defensive team.
For
a second straight week, No. 9 MSU lit up the scoreboard, this time
beating Wyoming by a score of 56-14 at Spartan Stadium on Saturday.
MSU
(3-1 overall) scored on its first six possessions, seeing five
different Spartans find the endzone. The Spartans were able to dominate
in all facets of the game offensively, out-gaining Wyoming 533 to 286 in
total yards.
“We have gotten to the point, but we’ve never
exploded like this, I think, out of the gate with our offense,” head
coach Mark Dantonio said. “It’s a great advantage, especially when
you’re not turning it over and are running the ball and throwing it.”
The
scoring frenzy started off with a one yard touchdown run from junior
quarterback Connor Cook on fourth and goal. The designed quarterback run play put
the Spartans up 7-0 only 3:49 minutes into the game, a lead the green-and-white
never surrendered.
The following possession saw a 19-yard
touchdown from senior wide receiver Tony Lippett. The touchdown by
Lippett was the sixth time this season Cook connected with Lippett for
six points. Lippett finished the day with 76 yards on four receptions.
Wyoming
would strike back on a junior running back Shaun Wick 57-yard touchdown
run the following possession to cut the Spartan lead in half, but that
would be the closest the game ever got.
Senior wide receiver
Keith Mumphery, sophomore tight end Josiah Price and sophomore running
back Delton Williams had the final four first half Spartan touchdowns,
two coming from Mumphery.
Wyoming popped in one more touchdown in the final minute of the first half to trim the Spartan lead to 42-14 at halftime.
The
second half saw more of the same from the Spartans’ offense, with MSU
adding 14 more points to the scoreboard. Senior running back Jeremy
Langford had a 29-yard touchdown run and sophomore quarterback Tyler
O’Connor had a 12-yard touchdown run to wrap-up the MSU victory.
Cook
finished 8-of-12 for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He also recorded one
touchdown on the ground for a second straight week. Also for a second
straight week Cook didn’t play in the fourth quarter and was relieved of
duties as early as the second quarter by sophomore quarterback Tyler
O’Connor and redshirt freshman Damion Terry.
With plenty of
substitutions throughout the game, it would be understandable for why
MSU would struggle to get in a rhythm, but that’s not the case for MSU,
Cook said.
“The reason why we have the rhythm is guys are good,”
Cook said. “Damion is a good quarterback, Tyler is a good quarterback.
Obviously this is Damion’s second year but Tyler is going into his third
year, Tyler knows the offense, he knows where to go with the football,
he’s accurate. He knows when to tuck and run obviously you saw that
today. Then the backups too. We’ve all been with each other for so long
that we have a timing from spring ball to fall camp in practice and it
shows in games.”
The Spartans’ run game clicked again this
week, finishing with 338 yards on the ground. Langford led the way with
137 yards and one touchdown, it was his first time 100-yard game of the
season.
Dantonio made a point to get Langford more carries this
week, shooting for him to get at least 20 touches. Langford didn’t quite
reach 20 — had 16 carries and two receptions — but following the game he
was pleased with his performance and considered it a big confidence
booster going into Big Ten play.
“It felt really good,” Langford
said. “Especially with the game we got next week so to get my confidence
up, take a couple hits, it felt good.”
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