Layne played on both sides of the ball all throughout high school at Benedictine in Cleveland, was recruited by MSU as a wide receiver, and eventually moved over to cornerback.

“I just gotta bring it back to high school. I gotta take it one play at a time,” Layne said. “When I’m on defense I have to focus on defense, and when I’m on offense then I focus on offense.”

Layne's focus throughout Saturday's game was on both his defensive and offensive techniques. Layne was targeted four times and caught one pass for 11 yards. At his main position, he blocked four passes from Purdue quarterback David Blough. 

Senior safety Khari Willis said was impressed with his mental capacity to be able to perform on both sides of the ball, but he expected nothing less from the junior.

“That’s Justin,” Willis said. “That’s my guy, (he's) like my brother. One of the closest guys to me on the team. We talk about it all the time, just having a win. I’m more impressed with the mental capacity to be able to juggle both, to go from period-to-period in practice and work on his craft going both ways, so I think that’s something that he's fit for.”

Junior linebacker Tyriq Thompson, who also played multiple positions in high school, stated that it’s a different transition playing both sides in college compared to the high school level. For him, Layne is the type of player who can have success doing it.   

“It takes a special player to do that,” Thompson said. “Everybody in the locker room, we knew that he was capable of it. He came out and did a good job.”

The decision to bring Layne onto the offense was made at the beginning of the week, after the Spartan offense lost senior wide receiver Felton Davis III to a season-ending Achilles injury suffered against Michigan. Davis is just one of several offensive threats to be sidelined at some point this season due to an injury. 

Layne said he saw this as his opportunity to step up for his teammates in their time of struggle to finish out the season strong.

“We just gotta do what we gotta do,” Layne said. “Guys have to step up.”

Layne felt his time on offense did not take any of his focus away from his defensive responsibilities. He also was not afraid of the “wide receiver curse” and getting injured during the game.

Co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner mentioned Layne, wide receivers freshman Jalen Nailor and junior Darrell Stewart Jr. as the team's top three receiving threats, after losing Davis last week.

“All three of those guys were big for us,” Warner said. “Justin just presents a different dynamic there with his speed, and Jalen the same.”

Layne almost had an opportunity to score his first touchdown of his collegiate career, but failed to corral a pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Rocky Lombardi in the first quarter. who Layne claims was more mad at himself than Layne was.

“He was harder on himself than I was on him,” Layne said.

As for his teammates, they all feel Layne showed what he can do in not only this game, but in previous ones as well.

“Justin has been playing phenomenal all season,” Thompson said. “Purdue, they decided to attack him today and he made plays on the ball when he had to make plays on the ball.”