By John Raffel

East Lansing, MI

Now the focus can switch to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Le'Veon Bell ran for three touchdowns while Isaiah Lewis returned an interception for a score to lead No. 23 Michigan State to a 45-7 victory over Central Michigan Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

Michigan State, coming off a disappointing 31-13 loss to Notre Dame last week, is 3-1 while Central fell to 1-2.

Bell had 81 yards rushing on eight carries, all in the first half. Quarterback Kirk Cousins passed for 213 yards and backup Andrew Maxwell threw for 71 yards.

I thought we started very fast," said MSU coach Marc Dantonio. "As a football team, we decided to receive the football so we went down the field on the first series so that was a big positive. We made an emphasis to run the football. I thought we were able to do that. Obviously, in the second quarter, the turnovers changed the real complexion of the football game. When you have four interceptions and one goes back for a touchdown, good things are going to happen to you. "

Next week, the Spartans open up the Big Ten season against an Ohio State team which shared the title with MSU and Wisconsin last season before OSU fell into problems with NCAA rules violations.

"It's tough to go into Ohio State State regardless of who's coaching there," said MSU wide receiver Keith Nichols, who had two catches on Saturday. "Ohio State is tough to beat at home. We'll have to prepare well and we're looking forward to the challenge. We have a lot to prove to our fans and the country."

"I look forward greatly going into Ohio State," said Michigan State sophomore left tackle Micajah Reynolds. "It will be my first time playing into the horseshoe. It's a great program. It will be a great challenge for us and will show what we can do for the rest of the year."

"Defense was dominant," Dantonio said. "Anytime your defense is dominant, it is going to be very tough to lose that football game. We'll look for this in next week's opportunity in Columbus. I look forward to it."

But the Spartans are eager to show that they could be a force to reckon with in the Big Ten this season. Bell had a 1-yard run in the first quarter for MSU's only points in the first 15 minutes.

The Spartans scored 24 points in the second quarter with Bell notching TD runs of 5 and 13 yards. Lewis returned his pass interception 37 yards for a touchdown. Dan Conroy added a 23-yard field goal for a 31-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, Cousins and Maxwell both had touchdown passes. Cousins connected to Caper for 15 yards and Maxwell hit Sims from three yards away.

Michigan State had a 481-112 advantage in total yards.

Central's only score was on a 5-yard pass from Ryan Radcliff to David Blackburn in the third quarter, cutting the MSU lead to 31-7.

Along with OSU, the Spartans will also play Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin during October.

"The next stretch of football games, the next eight, are going to be difficult football games," Dantonio said. "That's the way it is in this conference. You expect that."

 

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Bring on the Buckeyes: Michigan State Ready for Big Ten Opener