Michigan State beat Western Michigan 28-14 on Saturday.
EAST LANSING — Two weeks in, two wins for Michigan State.
The Spartans defeated their second straight MAC opponent to open the season with a 28-14 victory against Western Michigan on Saturday in East Lansing.
Quarterback Brian Lewerke racked up three touchdowns while running back LJ Scott had two scores and Michigan State’s defense didn’t allow a touchdown for the second straight game to open the season.
Lewerke finished 13-for-21 passing for 161 yards, one touchdown and one interception and had nine rushes for 81 yards and two scores. Scott had 18 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown and three receptions 25 yards and a score.
Michigan State finished with 457 yards of total offensive while Western Michigan had just 195.
Western quarterback Jon Wassink finished 11-for-26 passing for 79 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. In his first two career starts, the redshirt sophomore has yet to throw for a touchdown or top 100 yards passing.
All of Western Michigan’s scoring came in the second half from cornerback Darius Phillips, who returned a fumble for a touchdown and scored on a kickoff return. It was the second week in a row Phillips returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, after doing so at USC. He now has five career kickoff returns for touchdowns.
Michigan State has back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening two games last year, which were followed by seven straight losses in a 3-9 finish.
The Spartans head into their bye week and will host No. 24 Notre Dame at 8 p.m. on Sept. 23. The Broncos, who lost at then-No. 4 USC last week, will host Idaho in its home opener next Saturday.
On Michigan State’s second possession of the game, Lewerke faked a handoff to LJ Scott and took off up the middle for a 61-yard touchdown run and 7-0 lead with 4: 43 left in the first quarter. That was the longest touchdown run for a Michigan State quarterback since Charlie Baggett’s 69-yard score in a 10-7 win against Purdue on Oct. 27,1973.
In last week’s 35-10 season-opening win over Bowling Green, Lewerke had eight carries for 69 yards to become the first quarterback to lead Michigan State in rushing since Kirk Cousins had 75 in a 2009 win against Michigan.
Lewerke shook off an interception throwing into double coverage late in the first quarter with a touchdown pass in the second. He connected with LJ Scott for a 15-yard touchdown with 6: 04 left in the first half and the Spartans took a 14-0 lead into halftime.
Michigan State stopped Western Michigan on fourth down and drove into Bronco territory before turning it over. On his first career carry, true freshman receiver Hunter Rison was stripped of the ball by Western cornerback Darius Phillips, who returned it 67 yards for a touchdown.
The Spartans responded with a six-play drive covering 75 yards for their third score. Receiver Darrell Stewart Jr. had a 46-yard rush to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewerke for a 21-7 lead with 6: 07 left in the third quarter.
Western Michigan declined a personal foul penalty on Michigan State to make it fourth-and-1. The Spartans went for it and Scott ripped off a 44-yard run and then scored on a 2-yard carry three plays later for a 28-7 lead with 10: 48 left in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans’ decision to kick to Phillips cost them again on the ensuing kickoff as he returned it 100 yards for a touchdown to pull the Broncos within 14 points. Phillips returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and another for 70 yards against Michigan State in the Spartans’ 37-24 win in 2015.
Western converted on fourth down three times in an attempt to pull within one score but the drive stalled out at the Michigan State 15-yard line with 2: 52 to go as the Spartans took over on downs.
GAME NOTES
* Michigan State true freshman cornerback Josiah Scott made his second straight start and recorded his first career interception. He dove in front of Western receiver D’Wayne Eskridge to pick off Wassink on the opening drive of the game.
* Phillips had an interception for the second straight game to start the season, following one in last week’s 49-31 loss at USC.
* Michigan State has won 11 straight against Western and owns a 13-2 edge in the all-time series. The Broncos’ last win in the series was a 21-18 victory in 1919.
* Western Michigan is 0-2 for the first time since the 2013 season. The Broncos lost their first eight games that season en route to a 1-11 finish.
