East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State was ranked dead last in rushing in the Big Ten at this time last week, and then the Spartans went out and rushed for 195 yards against a quality Northwestern defense that had contained Wisconsin’s vaunted running game.

In the Spartans’ stunning 29-20 upset of No. 8 Wildcats, MSU’s run game success was the biggest surprise within a surprise.

MSU’s offensive line play and run game was horrible in the season-opening loss to Rutgers. The run game was surprisingly productive in MSU’s victory over Michigan, and then went dormant against Iowa and Indiana.

MSU’s offensive line coach and running game coordinator Chris Kapilovic was still in the beginning stages of shaping this unit when games were being won and lost.

“That’s where you miss the spring and summer so much because you never had a chance to really do the things you want to do in winter conditioning and spring ball to establish the mindset, work ethic, attitude early so that they understand what it’s going to take,” Kapilovic said. “The first day we ever had on pads together was the second practice of the second training camp (on Sept. 23). So there was a lot of improvement that needed to happen, not just physically but mentally.”

The o-line kept grinding, regardless of the results.

“That’s the thing that’s been great is they have embraced it,” Kapilovic said. “You see kids opting out all over the country, the season is not going the way they wanted it to. I’m not seeing any of that. These guys, they want to get better.

“They come to work every day. They’re hungry. They see that they can improve. That’s encouraging. That excites you as a coach to come every day and have another opportunity to get better on that practice field and take it to Saturday.

“We should improve through this season and then through the off-season. There’s a long way for us to go but I really believe we can get there. We just need to do it daily.”

Saturday’s game against Ohio State will serve as the toughest test of the season. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten in rushing defense, allowing just 98.5 yards per game on the ground. Ohio State is No. 4 in the Big Ten in yards allowed per rush attempt at 3.5 - not an intimidating figure.

Kapilovic and head coach Mel Tucker were encouraged by signs of progress in the run game in practice, and in short spells against Indiana and Iowa.

Counting sacks, Michigan State rushed for a net of 59 yards against Iowa and 60 against Iowa.

However, MSU’s tailbacks averaged 3.3 and 3.0 yards per rush in those games. That’s not a great figure, but productive blocking was taking place at times. Tucker said coaches graded out the offense as having 15 “efficient” run plays against Iowa.

“If you just look at the stats, it’s pretty ugly,” Kapilovic said. “But when you’re watching the games and if you’re really focusing on the inside, you really saw some improvement.”

Coaches continued to make diagnoses and corrections with offensive linemen, tight end blocking, wide receiver blocking and how running backs were carrying out the plays.

“Really, the week of preparation for Maryland was the best week of practice we had had all year,” Kapilovic said. “Our lineup has changed a little bit through the season. We have had guys miss some practice time that made it a little difficult. We need to build continuity.

“It (Maryland week) was one of the few times that all five guys were out there at the same time practicing all week. I was excited to play that game because I felt like we were making really good progress. Obviously, that got shut down on Thursday and I wanted to see if our guys could respond and have another good week, which they did.

“You could kind of see things starting to change and we still have a lot of work ahead of us and I’m hoping we will continue to improve there.”

Michigan State had attempted only three tailback runs against Indiana by the time the score was 17-0, due to turnovers. And only four tailback runs by the time it was 24-0.

“Sometimes in the run game, you have to get a rhythm going,” Kapilovic said. “You have to get those guys some back-to-back carries and get those o-linemen some back-to-back runs and kind of a get a rhythm going. I thought that was something we did Saturday (against Northwestern).

“At the end of the day, you can’t turn the ball over and if you don’t turn the ball over, that allows you to get more plays, have more possessions and a chance to get better in all aspects.”

The five starting offensive linemen were the main aspect in helping spark the run game.

“Starting with the guys up front, they played extremely hard,” Kapilovic said. “They are starting to finally play with some of the intensity and pad level and technique that you’re looking for.”

Senior left tackle A.J. Arcuri, sophomore center Nick Samac, junior right guard Matt Carrick and right tackle Kevin Jarvis played all 76 snaps in the victory over Northwestern.

Sophomore left guard J.D. Duplain played 64 snaps and junior left guard Blake Bueter played 12.

Samac (6-4, 300, Soph., Mentor, Ohio) replaced injured senior Matt Allen as the starting center in week two against Michigan. Allen hasn’t played since, and Samac hasn’t missed a snap.

Michigan State rode variations of the inside zone for the majority of its productive tailback runs against Northwestern. But on the second play of MSU’s fourth drive, runnning back Connor Heyward gained six yards on a toss sweep.

Samac was able to snap, use his mobility in pulling and running to get out front on the play side. Duplain also pulled on the play.

Duplain made good contact with the play-side linebacker. Samac didn’t quite get the pursuit inside linebacker squared up and logged, but the sophomore showed some interesting wheels on that play.

An offense that has a pulling center as one of its components can give a line coach and a play caller an extra face card or two in his hand.

“Nick has a lot of athletic ability,” Kapilovic said. “He is pretty athletic for an interior guy if you see him moving around. Nick has steadily improved.

“He has to continue to get stronger and probably build a little bit more of a base on his weight, which he’s working on.

“I love his attitude and effort. I mean he comes to work every day. He’s a positive person. There’s nothing we’re asking him to do that he thinks is too much and that’s really encouraging.”

The thing that’s really stood out, and a lot of it is tied into the reps he’s getting, is he is starting to calm down. The game is slowing down for him. He’s able to make the calls we need him to make to get us in the right positions. I feel that’s something that’s improved each week. You can see the confidence, just in his eyes and his face when he’s practicing. I’m pleased with his progress and his ceiling is a lot higher. He has a long way he can improve and he knows that.

Samac started four games as a true freshman last year and played in four, as Allen battled injuries.

Now, it appears that the job is Samac’s for the remainder of this season and at least two years to come.