First Half Analysis: Michigan State leads Rutgers in tight battle

The Spartans have an edge in total yards, but the Scarlet Knights are sticking close on the scoreboard through two quarters...

At times, it felt like Michigan State was dominating Saturday afternoon's first half against Rutgers. Yet, the Spartans weren't able to put much distance between themselves and the Scarlet Knights, leading 14-7 at the break.

While MSU held a big edge in total yardage through most of the half, the gap closed a bit late in the second half. Michigan State has 283 yards of offense, while Rutgers sits at 200.

Here's what stood out most through 30 minutes of football:

Michigan State Offense

• Hello, run game! Michigan State has struggled to run the ball consistently all season, but the Spartans looked like a brand new team on the ground today in the first half.
  MSU has rushed for 111 yards through two quarters, at an efficient 5.8 yards per carry. Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard have split 16 carries for the Spartans, with Broussard rushing for 50 yards and Berger adding 36. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson has also dialed up a couple play-action bootleg runs for quarterback Payton Thorne, who rushed for 25 yards on three carries in the first half. When the Spartans can run the ball, it opens a lot of options for the offense as a whole.
• Thorne has been a bit of a mixed bag through the air so far in this one. The redshirt junior has thrown for 172 yards and a touchdown, while completing 13-of-23 pass attempts.
  However, Thorne has missed on some throws as well. One came midway through the first quarter, when tight end Tyler Hunt was wide open on 4th-and-1 with the Spartans threatening. Thorne overthrew Hunt, and was visibly upset with himself afterwards, slamming his helmet on the bench in frustration.
  With how well Michigan State was running the ball on that drive, you can question the play call, but Rutgers bit hard on the play-action fake and the play was there to be made. Thorne has been better of late, but he did struggle with overthrows early this season and he's had a couple already today. With that said, it was nice to see Thorne bounce back on the next possession, hitting tight end Daniel Barker over the middle for a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Michigan State Defense

• The Spartans played pretty well on the defensive side of the ball, though Rutgers was able to gash them in the run game and that led to a nice drive midway through the second quarter. The Scarlet Knights had 138 rushing yards in the first half, and ran at a 6.3 yard per carry clip. It will be tough with Michigan State's depth and personnel issues at defensive line, but the Spartans need to shore up their run defense after halftime.
• Scarlet Knight starting quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is a young player with a lot of potential, but he wasn't able to make many plays down the field against the Spartan secondary until his 18-yard play-action touchdown pass with six minutes left in the second quarter. The Scarlet Knights success on the ground set up that play-action well. Rutgers has just 69 passing yards however, and their offense has been pretty one-dimensional.
• Michigan State continues to get banged up on defense. We've seen defensive tackle Simeon Barrow down after a play, but he returned to the game. Starting cornerback Charles Brantley was also left the game, but returned on the next defensive possession as well. With how thin the Spartans are on defense, even minor bang ups like these are worth monitoring.