Michigan State football stock watch: Jacoby Windmon shines, passing game makes strides

EAST LANSING – Here are the Michigan State football players and coaches who helped or hurt their stock in the Spartans’ 34-28 double-overtime win over Wisconsin on Saturday.

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LB Jacoby Windmon: Defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton shifted to a 4-3 defense for much of the game, moving Windmon from defensive end to linebacker for the first time this season. The UNLV transfer showed why MSU brought him in to play there, dropping in coverage early for an interception that set up the Spartans’ first touchdown and flying around in pass rush and run support for a team-high 11 tackles, two for lost yardage. Windmon collected his nation-leading sixth forced fumble on the Badgers’ second possession of overtime to set up the win.

Passing game: Quarterback Payton Thorne put together perhaps his most efficient performance of the season, going 21-for-28 for 265 yards. He connected with nine different receivers, including a 72-yard catch-and-run completion to Maliq Carr. That was one of Thorne’s six throws that went for 25 yards or longer, including a 25-yard touchdown to Keon Coleman and the 27-yard winning score to Jayden Reed after an audible. Reed and Coleman combined for 14 catches and 196 yards, and Reed also threw a 25-yard score to Coleman off an end-around for the first score in overtime.

More:Michigan State football playmakers, on offense and defense, come together to end losing streak

RB Elijah Collins: After the Spartans had 7 yards on the ground a week earlier in a loss to Ohio State, Collins received his biggest workload since the 2019 season. The senior ran 14 times for 43 yards, including a 1-yard score, taking on the No. 2 role in the offense. Jalen Berger started and led MSU with 59 yards on 16 carries, but Collins continues to look more like the back who gained 988 yards rushing as a redshirt freshman by showing shiftiness, vision and power through contact.

S Xavier Henderson/DT Jacob Slade: These two deserve mention, because their return from injury showed how much they mean to MSU’s defense. Henderson helped tutor freshman Dillon Tatum on the job as the secondary shut down Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz. The Badgers’ 131 yards through the air were the fewest against Hazelton’s defense in Tucker’s 27-game tenure. Slade’s disruptive ability up front also helped draw attention from his interior partner Simeon Barrow, who had one of MSU’s three sacks and two of its nine tackles for a loss.

More:It took OT, but Michigan State football saved its season — for now

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Jay Johnson: MSU’s offensive coordinator called one of his worst games in three seasons at MSU, particularly with some run-run-pass drives that ended in punts and showed little creativity. His decision at the end of the first half to throw a quick, wide pass to tight end Tyler Hunt instead of taking a knee to run out the clock was puzzling. Then came the final drive of regulation, which finished with two runs, burning the Spartans’ final two timeouts, and then throwing a quick pass to Reed, who got tackled in-bounds. That required MSU’s kicking unit to hurry onto the field, and second-string long snapper Michael Donovan’s snap was low and scuttled a potential winning field goal try.

RB Jarek Broussard: With Collins’ emergence, Broussard’s role continued to diminish. He ran three times for 6 yards, gaining five on a second-quarter carry and going for 1 yard and no gain on his two fourth-quarter attempts. Broussard also caught a pass for 3 yards and returned one kickoff for 22 yards with Tyrell Henry out, but he could struggle to get carries in the final half of the season if Johnson sticks with the Berger-Collins combo.

LB Ben VanSumeren: After starting the first six games and entering Saturday as the team’s second-leading tackler with 51, the senior grad transfer lost snaps as Windmon, Aaron Brule and Cal Haladay combined for 23 tackles in the linebacker spots. VanSumeren made two stops, one coming on special teams. How he is used will be interesting to monitor, particularly if the Spartans continue to employ the 4-3 instead of the 4-2-5 in which he had been thriving.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football stock watch: Jacoby Windmon, pass game shine