Michigan State’s season has been defined by hard-luck losses, but the clearest bright spot in the wreckage has been up front. Even as the Spartans have dropped five straight and fallen to 0-4 in Big Ten play, the defensive line has started to look like a unit with a pulse, and maybe more than that.
Saturday’s loss to No. 25 Northwestern was the latest proof.
Senior lineman Ben Roberts put together a career day with eight tackles, three for loss and two sacks, all personal bests. It only added to a season that has already become a breakout of sorts for the veteran, who is drawing notice from NFL scouts.
“Early in the year the scouts were like, ‘Hey, he’s played a lot of ball; we look forward to watching him play,’” MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said at Monday’s press conference. “Now they’re coming in going, ‘Wow! 55 is jumping off the tape.’”
Roberts, known as “Big Worm,” has been around the game a long time. This is his fifth year and his third in East Lansing after transferring from Oregon, but injuries have kept him from ever getting through a full season with the Spartans.
He missed two games in 2024 and five in 2025, though this year he is on track for his first full run at MSU. Through seven games, he has already doubled his previous bests in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks, with 26 tackles, five for loss and two sacks.
That kind of production has made him one of the defining figures on a defense that has been forced to shuffle pieces constantly because of injuries, including to five of the Spartans’ original starters.
Roberts has made no secret of where some of that growth has come from. He pointed to defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III after MSU’s Oct. 7 press conference.
“I’ve learned a lot from him,” Roberts said. “Just being able to be fundamentally detailed with everything we do, like outside of football. Always staying on top of our stuff and wanting it more than everyone else.”
The line as a whole backed up that sentiment against Northwestern. The Spartans finished with five sacks, their highest total since last year’s game against Nebraska, and the pressure came from all over. It was also one of the rare spots on the roster where health has been on their side; along with the safeties, the defensive line is one of just two position groups that has not lost a starter to injury.
“You definitely use them as an example, there’s no doubt,” Fitzgerald said of the group. “I did that this morning in the team meeting and pulled up a bunch of plays, and I had too many.”
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi has seen the jump, too.
“I would say in totality from the beginning of the spring to where we are now, our defensive line is our most improved unit,” Rossi said at Wednesday’s press conference. “That’s a testament to those players and those coaches.”
Eli Coenen has been a major part of that climb. The junior, an Illinois transfer, has been a steady presence next to Roberts and has piled up 16 tackles, 4.5 for loss and a team-high 3.5 sacks through seven games, already topping what any Spartan produced last season. He also made a play on special teams Saturday, blocking Northwestern’s 41-yard field-goal attempt.
Then there was sophomore edge Anelu Lafaele, who also posted career highs against Northwestern with four tackles and two sacks. Like Roberts, he is on pace for his first full season after missing the final six games last year with an injury.
Even with those individual performances, Roberts said the bigger picture has not changed. The Spartans still came away empty-handed.
“Doesn’t matter. It wasn’t good enough.
Lost,” Roberts said after the Northwestern loss. “But we’ll be better.
Promise you that.”
Michigan State, now 2-5 overall, gets another shot Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when it faces No. 9 UCLA, which is 6-0 and 4-0 in the Big Ten, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The game will air on CBS.
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