Bell Carries Michigan State to Victory Over Boise State

Michigan State tailback Le'Veon Bell had 50 touches for 265 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. (Gregory Shamus)

Michigan State and Boise State were set to battle Friday night in East Lansing. Both teams are expected to do well this season, but they also have some uncertainty offensively. New quarterbacks are at the helm for both teams. Junior Andrew Maxwell was named the Spartans starting quarterback after spending two years under the mentoring guidance of former Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Broncos' starting quarterback is junior Joe Southwick. Prior to the beginning of tonight's game, no one could know for sure what to expect.

Michigan State relied on tailback Le'Veon Bell early on and continued to do so as the game wore on. With 7:47 left in the first quarter, Bell carried the football into the endzone from one yard out to make it 7-0 Michigan State. Before the quarter came to a close, the Broncos and Spartans exchanged field goals to make the Michigan State lead 10-3.

Midway through the second quarter, Maxwell was under pressure from the Broncos blitz when he made a poor decision. He threw into a traffic jam of people, where Boise State sophomore safety Jeremy Ioane picked off the pass and returned it 43 yards for the touchdown. Broncos kicker Michael Frisina converted his second field goal of the half to give Boise State its first lead of the game. That lead held steady, so at halftime the Broncos still led 13-10.

The second half saw both teams driving back and forth, but coming up empty in the points department. In the fourth quarter, Michigan State finally drove into the red zone. From five yards out, Bell rushed into the endzone for his second touchdown of the game. Now trailing 17-13, Boise State tried to recover, but their drive stalled on fourth down. Michigan State got the ball back with 6:32 left in the game. Bell and the Spartans proceeded to run out the clock to win the game 17-13.

It was a hard fought game by both teams. Michigan State appeared to be the better team in nearly every aspect of the game. As I hinted at earlier, Bell was an absolute workhouse from start to finish. He rushed the ball 44 times for 210 yards. He also caught six passes for 55 yards. This means that Bell amassed a grand total of 265 yards on 50 touches. The Boise State offense as a whole only achieved 206 yards of total offense on 56 plays. The concern for the Spartans has to be the play of Maxwell at quarterback. The three interceptions and poor decisions he made were simply too many. Maxwell should continue to improve, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on for weeks to come.