KALAMAZOO, MI - Preparing for Week 2 opponent Michigan State, Western Michigan head football coach Tim Lester broke down the Spartans’ film from a 28-7 season-opening win over Tulsa.

What he saw from the MSU offense was the type of performance that drew contempt from Mark Dantonio, prompting the 12th-year Spartans coach to publicly call out that unit.

“I can say this, that football is a game of effort and toughness and knowing what to do,” Dantonio said during a press conference ahead of the WMU game. “Half of our team figured that out, half of it didn’t. We will make sure that other half gets figured out this week. That’s my message to our football team.”

Those who tuned into MSU's 51-17 drubbing saw the Spartans had little trouble moving the ball, and in the postgame press conference, quarterback Brian Lewerke said the offense knew it had to step up its game to please Dantonio.

“You can tell when Coach D is not in a good mood," Lewerke said. "And when he walked in the team meeting room on Tuesday, you could definitely tell. He gave us a mouthful. It kind of fired me up a little bit and I think it did the same for a lot of other guys.”

As sharp as MSU's offense looked on Saturday, WMU's defense played a significant role in the Spartans' success by missing tackles and busting coverages on deep passes.

During Tuesday's weekly press conference, Broncos head coach Tim Lester acknowledged the tackling and coverage shortcomings, but added that he's not the type of person to dwell on how poorly his team played.

To him, it's about learning from the mistakes and moving on.

"I always tell my guys, 'Fail fast and move on'" he said. "If you hold onto everything that doesn't go your way and let it ruin the next thing -- I always say, 'How many times are you going to let Michigan State beat you? Are you going to let them beat you six times because you're going to pout?'

"You have to get over it. You have to learn from it and move on."

Now, Lester isn’t saying that Dantonio’s self-described “irritable” style is a form of pouting, and there have been postgame press conferences in which the third-year coach is irritated himself after Mid-American Conference losses (2017′s blown lead to Central Michigan comes to mind), but he added that he tries to release the anger and channel it into improvement, which is something he learned from his playing days at WMU.

"I think part of it is from being a quarterback," he said. "You throw two picks in the first half, you better forget about them, and I think I have that ability. Sometimes even (the players) are pouting, and I can bring them back to realize that this emotional stuff isn't going to help us get any better.

"You go around pouting about how we didn't play well, and I'll say it -- we didn't play well; we didn't tackle well -- but I'm not going to pout about it. I'm going to talk to you about what we need to do better, what drills we need to do to make sure you're going to bend your knees better next time, and this is how we're going to fix it.

"I've never prescribed to that (pouting). When I was a player, I'd be upset when I didn't play as good as I needed to play, I'd be thinking about how I was going to fix it, how I'd get better and how I needed to grow as a player.

"As a player, sometimes I'd act more upset around my coaches because if I acted happy, they'd get mad at me. I will give up my body for this team, and I love this sport, but it doesn't mean I'm going to pout after a game. I'm going to get to my players and put a plan together and say, 'This is what we're going to do to get better.'

“If I saw (former WMU football coach Bill) Cubit, and I didn’t play great, I would just put my head down because if I acted normal, he’d think that I should be kicking or breaking chairs, and that’s not me. I’m already on to the next thing so that it doesn’t happen again. That’s the way I was born.”

WMU safety A.J. Thomas, who made two stops including a tackle for loss against MSU, said he appreciates the positive energy Lester brings to the team.

“He’s always positive; he’s a positive guy, and I think it’s important because we can’t dwell on the past,” Thomas said. "We lost; it was a bad loss; we’re not happy with the loss, but you can’t dwell on the past. It’s the same thing as a defensive back -- if you give up a big play, you can’t just continue to dwell on it because it will affect you in the future.

“It’s important to just keep that positive nature and forget about the game, but not forget about the feeling.”

If Week 2 showed us anything, there is a lot of room for growth in the WMU defense, and new defensive coordinator Lou Esposito is certainly making his players aware of that, but Saturday's matchup with the Spartans also showed us that maybe MSU's offense isn't as bad as the Big Ten basement-dwelling unit from 2018.

A full-strength Lewerke, a healthy wideout Cody White and a new playmaker at running back (Elijah Collins) have provided hope for MSU going forward, and the Broncos are unlikely to face a team again this season with the Spartans' combination of depth and talent at the skill positions.

So, what does the MSU loss mean for WMU going forward?

The Broncos’ Week 3 home game against Georgia State, one in which they’re favored by nine points, will give WMU fans a good idea of whether the defensive problems were the result of Big Ten athletes playing with a chip on their shoulder or if they’re part of a bigger problem.