Michigan State senior WR RJ Shelton coming through in clutch
EAST LANSING — Facing third-and-3 with just over a minute left in the game, MSU needed a first down to put away Notre Dame, who had scored three consecutive touchdowns and needed one last possession to tie the game.
The Spartans ran a patented sweep play for wide receiver R.J. Shelton, and it briefly looked as though he would be stopped before reaching the line of scrimmage. However, the senior used a couple key blocks — and a huge burst of speed — to evade Notre Dame's front seven and pick up 23 yards, sealing MSU's first win in South Bend in nine years.
"I just believed in myself," Shelton said. "When my name is called in those situations where it’s crunch time, the offensive line did a great job for me to do that, and then obviously I had to go and make the play. It was just a great team win today, offense and defense. Just the adversity of the whole game and how we came out on top was great."
Shelton has been a versatile threat for MSU since joining the program in 2013, logging minutes at running back, wide receiver and punt returner. He entered this season as a full-time starter at the wide receiver position and remains MSU's return man.
Before the season started, coach Mark Dantonio said Shelton was in line for a larger role to help fill the void left by Aaron Burbridge, who was named Big Ten Receiver of the Year in 2015. On Saturday, Shelton showed signs of becoming MSU's lead wideout, tallying eight receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.
"R.J. Shelton right after that ... breaks a tackle and scoots," Dantonio said after the game. "He's done a nice job with that his entire career here, and, you know, I keep saying if we have a great to believe team, seniors gotta have their best years, and you saw an example of that right there. I thought that was sort of a game-winning-type play. Again we would have had to punt it down there, they would have had about 30 seconds left, but things happen, so we were able to seal it up."
Shelton produced key plays throughout the game. Four of his eight receptions were for first downs, and his touchdown near the end of the second quarter gave MSU an eight-point cushion entering halftime.
Shelton left early against Furman during Week 1 with a hamstring injury, but he didn't look hindered on Saturday. He added 16 rushing yards on three carries.
True freshman wide receiver Donnie Corley produced several highlight plays and figures to be a popular target for quarterback Tyler O'Connor moving forward, but Shelton has Corley beat in one area — experience. Shelton entered the season with 11 career starts and recognizes that he is now in a position to lead a team that is inexperienced at several key positions.
He caught 43 passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns last year. He expects to increase those totals this year.
"As a senior, I have to have the best year and it lies on you," Shelton said. "Me being in my last year, I’m just making sure I can get this team to where it needs to be and for me to get the ball and close the game out, that’s what I needed to do. So it was a great team win."