Notes: Michigan State keeps faith, ball in running back LJ Scott's hands when it counts
EAST LANSING – LJ Scott wanted the ball. Mark Dantonio obliged.
With Michigan State facing a fourth-and-1 near midfield Saturday against Western Michigan, Scott went up to his coach on the sideline during a timeout.
“I was actually kind of in coach D’s ear asking for the ball,” Scott said.
Brian Lewerke gave Scott the ball, the sprinted around the right side and sprinted 44 yards into Broncos territory. He got the ball three straight times after that, punching in a 2-yard touchdown as the Spartans pulled to a 28-14 victory.
If there remained any questions that Scott remains top running back, it was answered in the fourth quarter. After fumbling twice in an opening-week win over Bowling Green, Scott ran 10 times for 69 yards in the final period.
The junior from Hubbard, Ohio, finished with 18 carries for 86 yards, both team highs.
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“We wanted to try to get him going today, and obviously he had the big play on fourth down – it was blocked really, really well,” co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner said. “But it’s just a feeling over the years that LJ's the guy. And when it comes down to that, we can hand the ball to him.”
Lewerke had another big game with his legs, running for 81 yards on nine carries. That included a 61-yard touchdown run in the first quarter after the sophomore faked a handoff to Scott on a read-option play, pulled the ball out, darted off the right side, followed sealing blocks from right tackle Luke Campbell and receiver Darrell Stewart, then outran three WMU defenders.
“His dad keeps telling me that he’s a lot faster than you think,” Dantonio said. “He is. If he’s got the ability to run, we'll take it.”
Stewart also ran three times for 70 yards and had three catches for 33 yards.
CURIOUS CALL: WMU opted to decline a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on MSU left tackle Cole Chewins to set up that fourth-and-1 for Scott’s run, rather than pushing the Spartans back 15 yards.
Dantonio wouldn’t say he was surprised, but he planned to go for it on offense even calling a timeout.
“I was never in doubt. When they declined it, I said, ‘We're going for it on the fourth-and-one,” Dantonio said. “I felt like you have to go for the yards sometimes. You have to get inches. That's what we're trying for all the time.”
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Lewerke and Scott also connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass out of a two-back shotgun set that MSU used infrequently throughout the game. Lewerke faked the handoff to Madre London while Scott ran a wheel route up the left sideline and hauled in Lewerke’s 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 6:04 left before halftime.
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London ran eight times for 28 yards, while Gerald Holmes carried eight times for 35 yards.
GREAT SCOTT: After being named the best true freshman performer in the nation last week by Pro Football Focus, MSU cornerback Josiah Scott got his first career interception.
Scott, with coverage help from safety Matt Morrissey, stepped in front of a Jon Wassink pass and pulled the ball away from WMU receiver D’Wayne Eskridge to end the Broncos’ game-opening drive.
“You want to get your first pick early,” said Scott, who also had a pass break-up. “It gives me more confidence to go out there and do it again and play with more confidence.”
HONORING SADLER: While a beer to benefit the Mike Sadler Foundation was being sold around East Lansing for the first time this weekend, the Broncos upheld former quarterback Zack Terrell’s pledge to wear stickers on their helmets to honor the former MSU punter.
WMU coach Tim Lester passed along Terrell’s pledge in February after Terrell became the first recipient of the Mike Sadler Award at the Dream Team Football Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Free Press and National Football Foundation’s Michigan chapter.
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“That was a great gesture,” Dantonio said. “Mike was a western Michigan guy, from Grand Rapids. I thought that was a class move by them.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.