EAST LANSING – Western Michigan and sophomore quarterback Alex Carder got their first taste of action Saturday, going up against Michigan State before a sellout crowd of 75,769 at Spartan Stadium. Carder threw two touchdowns and totaled 220 passing yards, but the Spartans ground game racked up 297 yards leading MSU to a 38-14 victory.

Michigan State (1-0) scored on it’s second play of the game, but Western Michigan (0-1) held tough through the first quarter. The Broncos defense forced three-straight three and outs and Carder threw his first career touchdown pass on a fourth and goal conversion.

The special teams unit and redshirt freshman Kyle Lark made a big play to set up Carder’s touchdown pass to Juan Nunez. Lark pounced on a muffed punt at MSU’s 19-yard line. Showing poise, Carder zipped a 10-yard pass on third down to keep the Bronco drive alive. Later facing a fourth-and-goal situation, Carder rolled to his right and found Nunez in the corner of the end zone to tie the score at 7-7. The first quarter was a vast improvement from the Broncos’ outing against Michigan State last year, which ended in the WMU trailing 21-0.

Linebacker Deauntay Legrier sacked MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins at the opening of the second quarter for a nine-yard loss on third down, forcing a MSU punt. Carder mishandled a snap on the Broncos’ possession however and Michigan State took over on the Broncos’ 31-yard line. Cousins completed a 20-yard pass over the top to Keith Nichol to give MSU the lead back, 14-7. Michigan State went on to score 28 unanswered points.

In the second quarter, WMU’s Ben Armer blasted 51-yard punt to pin MSU at the two-yard line, but a 75-yard burst down the right sideline by MSU’s Le’Veon Bell set up the Spartans’ third TD. Bell ran in MSU’s fourth touchdown shortly before the half. MSU led 28-7 at halftime and scored again on the opening drive of the second.

Carder threw his second career touchdown with 8:22 left in the third quarter. He completed a 25-yard pass to White on the drive and later eluded defenders, throwing on the run to tight end Blake Hammond for a two-yard touchdown.

Michigan State capped its scoring a 33-yard field goal with 7:30 remaining in the game. Western Michigan got into the red zone on its ensuing drive, but was unable to convert on fourth-and-two and turned the ball over on downs.

Backup quarterback Tyler VanTubbergen took over under center on the Broncos’ final drive and completed his first career pass for six yards to Dallas Walker. VanTubbergen completed 3-of-4 passes for 18 yards and had one first down.

Carder finished with 220 yards on 27-for-49 passing and also rushed the ball for an additional 38 yards. White led WMU’s receiving corps with eight receptions for 82 yards. Hammond hauled in four catches for a career-high 61 yards while Nunez had seven receptions, 54 yards. Western Michigan wasn’t able to get much going on the ground. Junior running back Aaron Winchester handled a majority of the carries and totaled 30 yards rushing.

Michigan State’s offense amassed 483 yards to WMU’s 323. The Spartans had two running backs with 100-yard games in Bell (141) and Edwin Baker (117).

Defensively, redshirt freshman Lewis Toler and Legrier had eight tackles apiece. Toler registered six solo tackles and one pass break-up. Dammond Smith and Mario Armstrong had six tackles each and Smith forced a fumble.

Western Michigan takes on Nicholls State next Saturday, Sept. 11, in the Broncos’ home-opener on CommUniversity Night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Story courtesy Western Michigan University