EAST LANSING, Mich. — If a woodshed is known for fireworks, then Spartan Stadium was aptly named on Saturday night as Michigan State hosted Western Kentucky.
The offenses stole the show as No. 17 Michigan State got the best of Western Kentucky, outlasting the Hilltoppers for a 48-31 victory in front of a homecoming crowd of 70,075.
Kenneth Walker III had three touchdown runs and Jayden Reed returned a punt for a touchdown for the second straight game to lead Michigan State’s offensive output.
Western Kentucky came into the game averaging better than 500 total yards a game, and the Hilltoppers piled up plenty against the Spartans, finishing with 556. But Michigan State’s offense was up to the challenge as Walker ran for 126 yards to go with his three scores while Reed had four receptions for 127 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown. Jalen Nailor had eight catches for 128 yards while Payton Thorne was 19-for-29 passing for 324 yards, throwing for one score and adding a 12-yard touchdown run. The Spartans finished with 519 total yards.
Michigan State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) stormed to a 42-16 halftime lead and led 45-16 early in the fourth quarter before Western Kentucky took advantage of a rash of Michigan State penalties and a failed fourth-down attempt to add a couple of touchdowns, pull within 14, and make things interesting.
But Michigan State responded with a 72-yard drive to put the victory away, capping the drive with a Matt Coghlin field goal from 20 yards out to push the lead back to 17 with 4:46 to play.
Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe entered the game as one of the most prolific passers in the nation, and he threw for plenty of yards, going 46 for 64 for 488 yards. However, he and the Hilltoppers had trouble putting the ball in the end zone, managing just one touchdown through the first three quarters.
They came to life in the fourth quarter as Zappe hit Jerreth Sterns — he had 17 receptions for 186 yards — with a 28-yard touchdown pass to pull the Hilltoppers (1-3) within 45-24 after a two-point conversion. Zappe then hit Joey Beljan with a 1-yard strike with 8:24 left to make it 45-31 before Coghlin’s final field goal.
There was plenty of scoring in the first half, beginning with Reed’s 88-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving the Spartans a 7-0 lead before they had run an offensive play. Reed added his 46-yard touchdown catch later in the half while Walker ran for three touchdowns and Thorne scored on a 12-yard run as Michigan State took a 42-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.
It was the first time Michigan State scored more than 40 points in the first half since it held a 42-14 lead over Wyoming on Sept. 27, 2014, and Reed, who had a punt return for a touchdown in last week’s win over Nebraska, became the third player in program history to have two punts returned for a touchdown in the same season.
Western Kentucky moved the ball well as Zappe threw for 292 first-half yards. But the Hilltoppers struggled to find the end zone, setting for field goals on three red-zone trips to go with Zappe’s touchdown pass to Beljan to pull within 21-10 with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
But Michigan State kept its foot on the gas, getting two more Walker touchdowns from that point then taking advantage of linebacker Cal Haladay’s strip of Zappe and fumble recovery late in the second quarter when Thorne scored with 41 seconds left in the first half.
The scoring slowed in the third quarter as Michigan State got a 21-yard field goal from Coghlin before Western Kentucky had its fourth-quarter surge.
