COLLEGE PARK, Md. – As Riley Bullough trotted back to locker room, ejected and dejected, Joe Bachie dashed onto the field to begin his Michigan State career.
It wasn’t as planned, and it came much sooner than Bachie might have expected. But with Byron Bullough back home nursing an injury, Mark Dantonio turned to the true freshman to replace his fifth-year senior middle linebacker and team captain.
And for the next 3 1/2 quarters of MSU's 28-17 loss at Maryland, the Spartans’ defense revolved around the rookie.
“He showed he’s got some talent,” Dantonio said of Bachie on Sunday.