From the first play it was clear what kind of game it was going to be at Ryan Field on Friday night.

Kenneth Walker III took the handoff to the left and raced down the sideline for a 75-yard Michigan State touchdown. Walker III would finish the day with 264 yards on the ground and four trips to the end zone.

For the remainder of the game, the Spartans did whatever they wanted as Northwestern was helpless on defense and out-of-sync on offense. It was a 60-minute beatdown.

Here are our five takeaways from a disappointing night in Evanston:

Cats not ready to play: Northwestern has a recent history of coming out flat in early season contests. Losses to Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Akron and Duke come to mind.

Friday night was another instance where Northwestern was apparently not ready to play a football game. Walker III's 75-yard dash through a gaping hole on the first snap of the game was the clearest example. One team was prepared and wanted to play football, the other was not.

And the final score reflected that.

Connor Heyward running through A.J. Hampton and Corien Azema to convert a third-and-seven is another example of Northwestern failing to make a winning play and allowing the Spartans to impose their will.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald and his players spent all offseason talking about how "disrespected" they were the national college football media. After one game, it appears like Northwestern may have been given the appropriate amount of respect.

Inauspicious debut for O'Neil: Replacing Mike Hankwitz was never going to be an easy task for new defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil, and laying an egg in his debut is only going to make matters worse.

Northwestern's defense was gashed repeatedly by the Spartans on the ground to the tune of 8.8 yards per carry. MSU cruised to 511 yards of total offense, 326 of which game on the ground.

Northwestern forced Michigan State into only one three-and-out all game. It was a pitiful performance from a unit that was ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense a year ago and has been the backbone of Northwestern's program for the last five-plus seasons.

Hankwitz was the honorary captain for NU and had to be sick to his stomach watching the Spartans run through his troops like a hot knife through butter.

In O'Neil's stops as a defensive coordinator in the NFL, his units always struggled to stop the run. Through one game at Northwestern, things don't look much better.

Kicking woes resurface: It may be a little premature for 2019 comparisons, but placekicker Charlie Kuhbander's woeful night was reminiscent of his 2019 campaign.

A kicker has one job, and Kuhbander failed at that singular job both times he was called upon on Friday. He missed 44 and 38-yard attempts to allow NU to come up empty on two trips into the red zone.

Maybe the game shakes out differently if Northwestern was able to answer MSU's first score on their opening drive or keep their momentum going by cutting the lead to 11 to open the second half.

Missed kicks waste drives, and Northwestern can't afford to allow that to continue to happen.

Offense can't finish: Part of the reason that the missed field goals were so backbreaking was because Northwestern's offense couldn't finish drives.

NU had three drives get inside the red zone in the first half but only had one touchdown to show for it. The Cats totaled 400 yards of offense, but only had a measly 21 points to show for it, seven of them coming late in the fourth quarter when the game had already been decided.

Quarterback Hunter Johnson moved the team between the 20s in his return to the starting lineup, but it got hard to throw the ball in the red zone, where the windows get smaller and the receivers have less room to work. This is where the running game should help.

The problem is, Northwestern had a Cam-Porter-sized hole in their rushing attack. Evan Hull, who Fitzgerald said was coming back from an injury, finished with 87 yards, but 49 of those came on one play. As a team, the Wildcats generated just 117 yards and 3.1 yards per carry as MSU’s defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage.

To rub salt in the wound for the Cats, former starter Isaiah Bowser, who transferred to UCF, ran for 170 yards on Thursday for his new team. If NU can't find consistency on the ground, it's going to be a very, very long year.

Johnson a lone bright spot: Johnson was seen as a big question mark for the Wildcats after struggling in 2019. But he turned in a solid performance, completing 69.7% of his passes for 283 yards and three scores without a turnover.

Fans were hoping that Johnson could make plays downfield with his arm and Johnson delivered, throwing 41- and 47-yard strikes to Bryce Kirtz and Stephon Robinson Jr., respectively, on the first two drives, though neither ended in points. He also hit a 25-yard pass to Charlie Mangieri to set up Northwestern's lone first-half TD.

Johnson spread the ball around, hitting 10 different receivers on his 30 completions, but he had his strongest connection with Kirtz and Robinson, who combined for 12 catches, 159 yards and Robinson's touchdown.

Johnson wasn't perfect -- he missed some shorter throws and looked tentative at times -- but he was able to make plays and move the offense through the air while the running game faltered.