EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Six rushing touchdowns and almost 500 yards of total offense led Michigan State to a 52-0 shellacking of Akron. Jalen Berger produced three touchdowns and 107 yards rushing as Payton Thorne saw limited action going 18-of-28 for 212 yards passing.

“Our goal was to get better this week in practice as we had a lot of things we needed to clean up. I feel we came into the game a better football team and we had to go out and show that playing a better brand of football more consistently – offense, defense, special teams – and how they complement each other for the entire ball game,” says head coach Mel Tucker. “I think our focus was better, our intensity was better, and there was a lot of good things for us to build upon for our team.”

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The defense had a day with Akron forcing five fumbles, recovering three, and recording five sacks. Jacoby Windmon, who was the national defensive player of the week, had 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery to go along with five tackles.

“A shutout is a good deal for our team. It’s not easy to do that,” said Tucker

Thorne once again didn’t have the best of games with no touchdown passes. “For me in my personal play, I’m looking at taking care of the ball better. It’s not acceptable to be turning the ball over,” said Thorne. “I’m really tired of throwing the balls high; it’s pissing me off. I did the same thing last week, and that’s never been an issue for me, so I gotta figure that out quickly, because I can’t have that anymore.”

An evolving and strong rushing offense took off for MSU. They used five running backs that turned out 268 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Berger led the way with 17 rushers for 107 yards for his second straight game of 100+ yards rushing. The transfer from Wisconsin added a career high three rushing touchdowns, too.

Jarek Broussard carried the ball 15 times for 81 yards and two touchdowns. He is the other transfer in the backfield this year for MSU coming from Colorado and is on the preseason Doak Walker watch list. He says, “I think we (Berger) complement each other really well.. There is a drop off and I feel like we get that enjoyment and it’s good.”

The two running backs have been sharing time in the back field the past two games. Broussard is a fifth-year player who graduated from Colorado and came to MSU for a chance to excel more in leadership and a two-back system. “The idea of keeping your legs fresh and having someone that’s going to encourage you to make a play, because if you make a play, he might make a play. It’s kind of feeding off each other and keeping our legs fresh is very beneficial to the team,” said Broussard on Berger.

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MSU rolled through the first half for a 24-0 lead. The first three touchdowns of the game came from Broussard and two from Berger for the 21-0 lead. Jack Stone then made a 43-yard field goal for the 24-0 lead.

Tre Mosley had the only receiving touchdown of the day from 16-yards out as Noah Kim found him. Broussard and Berger combined for two more touchdowns for a 45-0 lead and then Elijah Collins finished off the scoring on a one-yard run.

MSU’s biggest test of the season comes next week when they head to Washington for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff central time.