Michigan State looked vastly improved in a 44-0 shutout of Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The 17th-ranked Spartans, who struggled in their season opener, scored on all five of their first-half drives and held the Owls to 48 total yards and one first down in Mark Dantonio’s biggest margin of victory as head coach.

Michigan State’s defense, which returned three starters from last season’s 11-win campaign, recorded two sacks, returned a fumble for a touchdown and allowed Florida Atlantic less than 18 minutes of possession. It was just the kind of performance needed heading into next week’s showdown in South Bend, Ind., with Notre Dame.

A reshuffled offensive line paved the way for two first-quarter rushing touchdowns before Kirk Cousins delivered two scoring strikes to pad the lead. Cousins was 17-of-23 for 192 yards to climb to third on Michigan State’s all-time passing list.

Florida Atlantic failed to even flirt with a turnover after grabbing three interceptions last week against Florida.

The Owls tried two different quarterbacks to spark their offense, but David Kooi and Graham Wilbert combined for just six completions as the unit was held out of the end zone for the second straight week.