'D' breaks shutout drought

EAST LANSING - Between Florida Atlantic's inability to move the ball in a driving rainstorm and its unwitting ability to squander its few scoring chances Saturday, it's hard to gauge how impressive the 17-0 shutout Michigan State's defense posted really was.

Not to Ross Weaver, though. The junior cornerback thinks the Spartans' first shutout since 1999 could have happened in any kind of weather.

"The results might have been a little different," Weaver said, "but I think our defense was sound enough that we could have shut them out."

It was the first time since a 34-0 win at Northwestern on Nov. 13, 1999 that the Spartans held an opponent scoreless and their first at Spartan Stadium since defeating Eastern Michigan 47-0 on Sept. 28, 1996.

"They shut us out, and I think that shows enough," FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "(If it didn't rain), who knows? I think the fact they shut us out, we have to live with that. We're going to put an asterisk on it and say that there were mitigating circumstances."

MSU held Florida Atlantic to 225 yards, applying enough pressure on highly touted Owls quarterback Rusty Smith that he had to flee the pocket at times and rush his throws in other instances. He also had the two fumbles his team lost, both of which were aided by the wet conditions.

Smith finished 8 of 34 for 143 yards, nearly half of them coming on a 71-yard completion to Rob Housler over the Spartan secondary in the fourth quarter.

Even that big play, with MSU leading 17-0, eventually was a wasted opportunity. The senior quarterback fumbled the ensuing snap, and Spartan safety Dan Fortener pounced on the kicked-around ball at the Spartan 4 to thwart one of Florida Atlantic's few good chances.

"It's special, but we have the ability to do it," safety Otis Wiley said. "(Getting the shutout) was very important, especially after I gave up that big pass."

Smith, considered as an NFL prospect, had a difficult time throwing a spiral, saying his passes were "knuckling" toward his receivers.

Owls receivers dropped 10 of those 26 incomplete passes. Also, Weaver, Fortener and Wiley combined to break up seven passes.

"I am going to put a lot of the blame on myself," Smith said. "Ninety-eight percent of the balls that weren't completed today are No. 11's fault."

MSU's front seven also slowed Florida Atlantic's running game, limiting the Owls to just 22 second-half yards and 82 for the game.

The Spartans held FAU to just 2-of-15 on third-down conversions and 0-for-3 on fourth-down attempts, one of which was a field goal attempt in which the snap slipped through Owls holder Kyle Peterson's hands in the first half.

FAU had just nine first downs in the game.

"I was a little disappointed in the first half because we gave up some runs," MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said. "The special thing is that our team had three sudden-change opportunities in the first half, and we did a good job of denying (Florida Atlantic).

"The defense did a great job making sure they didn't get any points."