Good story by Jake Lyskawa on MSU's continuous copy film session this morning.

I ran into one of my sons' best friends yesterday from high school who worked for the University of San Diego AD when Harbough was there, and he told me this story. I called BS on the story, but he swears it is true. He told me that he came into work one morning about 6:30am and he saw someone climbing through a window to get into the football offices. So, he calls security, and they go over there and it's Harbaugh. Apparently, Harbaugh was the first one in every morning. So, he asks Harbaugh what he was doing, and Harbaugh said he lost his key. My son's friend says well when did you lose your key and Harbaugh says about a year ago. My son's friend says we can get you a new key in a day all you need to do is ask. Harbaugh says gee that would be swell if you could do that for me.

He did say Harbaugh was the best football coach they ever had but he was one strange dude.

But he, and the return game, to use a Tucker term, are "critically important."

F Christian Humphreys is rated the #9 overall recruit in the ‘06 class by NeutralZone. NZ has him as a 4.25/5 star. He is headed to NTDP next season. Finished with 121pts in 66 games for Bishop Kearny U16 this year.

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Foregone conclusion but great achievement regardless

He won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks.

(award has been given out since 1987)

Keep an eye out for Gabriel Perrault, son of former NHLer Yanic Perrault. He is with U.S. Team and from what I've been told has whittled his choices down to MSU, Wisconsin and BU.

PRE-SNAP READ: Michigan State vs Akron​

By Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com.

East Lansing, Mich. - This game is less about whether Akron can stay competitive and more about what things the Zips do that can provide good tests for the Spartans as Michigan State tries to make progress as a team.

Akron has a couple of things that will test Michigan State, but not enough to do major damage on the scoreboard.

In comparing Akron to other mid-majors Michigan State has played in recent years, I would say Western Michigan is two-and-a-half to three touchdowns better than Akron.

Akron isn’t nearly as tricky or dangerous as Western Kentucky was last year. Akron is closer to the Youngstown State team which Michigan State beat 42-14 last year. YSU ended up going 3-7 last season and really had no business remaining within 28 points of the Spartans, but somehow they did.

Michigan State scored on the first play of the game against YSU, and led 14-0 seven minutes into the game.

Michigan State led YSU 21-0 early in the second quarter after an 85-yard TD pass to Jayden Reed. But somehow Michigan State outscored YSU only 21-14 for the rest of the game.

That leads into the sermon that Michigan State is preaching this week, especially after last week’s game.

Mel Tucker and the Michigan State coaches are stressing the importance of having a killer instinct, keeping a foot on the throat and delivering the knockout blow.

Last week, Michigan State led Western Michigan 21-3 in the first half, but somehow WMU had the ball, down by 8, in the fourth quarter.

Forget the opponent, forget the numbers on the scoreboard, Tucker is harping on the importance of every player winning every play to the best of their ability, regardless of the score.

For that reason, and reasons of athletic superiority, Michigan State should be able to get into the high 30s in this game and keep Akron to 10 or less, and keep pouring it on. I rarely talk about point spreads, but if Michigan State can’t cover the spread against Akron, then Michigan State is going to have a very hard time beating Washington, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the coming weeks.

I hear Michigan State is favored by 34.5. I would give Michigan State more than 60 percent chance of covering that. But I nearly guaranteed the same thing vs Youngstown last year, but a bad YSU team managed to lose by only 28.

Pause. Tucker is ticked off about last week's game. Notch it up to 62 percent chance that Michigan State wins by more than 34.


WHAT DOES AKRON DO WELL?

The one thing that makes Akron dangerous, every few snaps, is their ability to throw deep. QB, D.J. Irons has an excellent arm, a tight laser spiral and an easy release.

He’s inaccurate with intermediate stuff. But he throws the deep ball well and has a couple of receivers who can get open, for a shot or two.

Akron shouldn’t be able to drive consistently. But they can test Michigan State with some deep shots, and Michigan State needs some deep shot tests, especially at safety.

And I don't just mean deep posts to the middle or deep shots along the sideline. Also mean the deep 25-yard out. Michigan State needs some work there, and Irons will give them some work. Michigan State needs the work prior to the Washington game against Michael Pennix, who looked quite good last week. He's going to be a problem.

Akron didn’t throw deep a ton last week in a 30-23 overtime victory over FCS opponent St. Francis, which I think is in Philadelphia but after visiting the St. Francis web site a number of times, I’m still not sure where it's located (pet peeve of mine, going to private school web sites, and even some public schools, whether it’s a high school or a college, and having no clue about the actual location of said school, whether it be the town, the state or even region of the country.)

Anyway, Akron connected on three deep passes in the second half of that game and probably should have went deep more often. I suspect they will try to go deep often and early against Michigan State because, well, why not? Puncher's chance.

Akron first-year head coach is Joe Moorhead. You might remember him as the guy who saved Penn State's season in 2016. That year, he changed his team's offense at mid-season when they just started slinging everything deep with sophomore QB Trace McSorley.

Michigan State was terrible that year, going 3-9, with leadership and political/cultural differences among the problems.

The coaching staffs of Michigan State and Penn State had a pretty good feud going at the time. Next to Harbaugh, Mike Hart and Wolverine ilk, MSU's staff probably disliked Penn State's the most.

There were hurt feelings on the recruiting trail, and even an argument by staffers outside the stadium elevator at one point on gameday. When Michigan State handed the ball to Jack Allen for a 9-yard touchdown run with a 55-16 lead on senior day, PSU head coach James Franklin didn’t like it.

The next year, with PSU having found mid-season magic with the deep ball, the Nittany Lions threw deep in the final minutes in trying to run up the score against a beleaguered Michigan State team that was 3-8 at the time. Penn State succeeded, by the count of 45-12.

Dantonio didn’t hide from it. He stood out front and glared across the field in the final minutes, poker-faced, as the Nittany Lions capped a Big Ten East regular season title, leading to a Big Ten Championship Game victory, and a tight loss to USC in the Rose Bowl.

Moorhead created a pretty good name for himself that year as Penn State’s offensive coordinator, with McSorley hurling all of those deep shots.

Two months after the loss in 2016, Dantonio mentioned to a hall full of high school coaches at the Michigan high school coaches convention, when talking about football theory, that Penn State surprised teams that year by having route combinations packed with three and four verticals, and very few (sometimes no) crossers or digs.

Most pass defenses account for crossers or digs. But if, time after time, there are no crossers or digs, the deep men can get outnumbered by verticals. That's what PSU did. They out-numbered you deep.

Eventually, a defense can catch onto it and start taking away the deep shots. But Penn State - after beginning the season at 2-2 with losses to Pitt and Michigan - started rolling in 2016, with an offense buoyed by RB Saquon Barkley, deep threat TE Mike Gesecki and all those other deep shot targets.

Moorhead was hailed as a great offensive mind. But basically, he just surprised opponents for a couple of months, and had really good skill players. He hadn't reinvented the wheel. He had just saved the season. And good for him. But the sizzle was temporary.

Dantonio won two of the next three against Penn State.

In 2017, in this space, I wrote that Penn State’s running game was talented, with Barkley, but Moorhead and Franklin were doing Barkley a disservice by deploying a vanilla running game.

The near-entirety of the PSU run game in 2017 consisted of inside zone runs and the QB making zone read decisions off of it.

McSorley was good and Barkley was great. But when PSU ran the zone read, if your defense crashed toward Barkley, McSorley could be forced to pull it out and keep it. He had little gainers here and there, and a couple of heroic big gainers against Ohio State. But eventually, McSorley was going to take hits, which would hurt his ability to run and his ability to throw. He was a little guy.

Meanwhile, their zone run scheme was kind of soft. That’s what I wrote in the Pre-Snap Read prior to MSU’s game against then No. 7-ranked Penn State.

PSU's run offense with the great Saquon Barkley was soft? Yes, that's what I said.

Well, Barkley is and was a great talent. But he had only 63 yards on 14 carries that day against Michigan State. McSorley carried seven times for a net of 2 yards and threw three interceptions. Michigan State scored the upset.

After the game, James Franklin criticized his team’s offensive scheme and said the run game was … too soft and not hard to figure out. Too “finesse-oriented” is how he put it. I agreed.

Moorhead’s genius seemed to be fading. But news never got to Starkvegas, Mississippi. The other MSU, Mississippi State, hired Moorhead as head coach after the 2017 season. I couldn’t believe it.

True, Penn State finished 11-2 in 2017 with that soft indignity to Barkley, including a win over Washington in the Rose Bowl. Penn State scored a lot of points that year. But if anyone at Mississippi State had taken time to look under the hood, they would have passed on Moorhead.

Nothing against Moorhead, but I thought the hire was a bad one from the first time I heard it - not only because his offense had been a house of cards at PSU, but because he wasn’t a good cultural fit in cowbell country.

It’s not very often that I feel smart. But Moorhead made me feel smart prior to and after that game in 2017, and again after his hire and subsequent failure at Mississippi State.

Actually, he did better at Mississippi State than I expected, going 8-5 and 6-7 in two seasons, with two bowl appearances.

He was hired at Oregon to be offensive coordinator and QBs coach for the 2020 and ’21 seasons. Again, I wasn’t impressed with Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal’s decision to hire Moorhead. HOWEVER, Moorhead did a decent job with the Ducks. They went 4-3 in 2020 and then 10-3 last year, including a 35-28 victory at Ohio State during which the Duck offense curb-stomped the worst defensive coordinator hire in recent Ohio State history, Kerry Coombs (another failure I called 18 months ahead of time).

I don’t rip coordinator hires very often. And I'm not smart, I promise. But those two were kind of easy targets.

Anyway, when Miami hired Cristobal away from Oregon, Moorhead didn’t go with him to Coral Gables. Instead, Cristobal hired (sigh) … Josh “Speed in Space” Gattis.

I could go on.


WHERE AKRON CAN TEST MICHIGAN STATE:

Here’s the takeaway in terms of what it means for Saturday’s game: If 2016 is any lesson, Moorhead has a history of pulling the pin and throwing deep. We didn’t see it from Akron a lot in his debut as the Zips head coach last week, HOWEVER when the Zips did go deep, they had success and turned the game aound. I suspect they will go deep earlier and more often in this game.

Here’s the rub: Akron’s pass protection is bad.

Their quarterback, D.J. Irons, has a very good arm. He can go sling it deep. The receivers are pretty good, including Pitt transfer Shocky Jacques-Louis (6-0, 180, Sr.).

That's where the game within the game COULD get interesting with nice competition: Irons' arm (if he has time) throwing some decent receivers against an Michigan State secondary that is still trying to prove itself.

* Irons found Jacque-Louis for a 41-yard TD pass in the third quarter last week. Strong arm. That throw happened to be accurate (he will get inaccurate with intermediate stuff). But he was accurate with the deep ball on that one. And he has the arm strength to get it there on a line.

On the 41-yard TD, St. Francis was in cover-two zone. Jacques-Louis was aligned tight to the formation and ran a skinny post. The CB re-routed him and then Jacques-Louis was one-on-one with a safety. Jacques-Louis ran right by him.

My question is whether Jacques-Louis would be able to run right by Angelo Grose or Kendell Brooks. The next time I see Brooks turn and run with a deep receiver will be the first time. I can’t remember a time when WMU tested him.

Grose struggled with deep ball judgement last year, but had some good moments last week.

I’m not saying this is a concern for Michigan State in terms of winning or losing this game, but Akron CAN test Michigan State in this area, and it’s an area which needs testing.

Please, Akron. Test Michigan State deep. Michigan State needs the work.

* As for Irons, his big arm also bailed out a second-and-19 situation in overtime, drilling a deep out route for 28 yards from the right hash to the left sideline. He has a gun, and he doesn’t throw moon shots. He gets it there on a line.

Jacques-Louis is a Big Ten level WR.


FINAL ANALYSIS FIRST

At this time last year, I stepped out of character and said Youngstown State should not be within the point spread against Michigan State.

And when it was 21-0 early in the second quarter, I felt good about what I wrote.

But Michigan State took its foot off the gas. Youngstown hung around and lost by only 28.

The difference this year for this situation is what I mentioned earlier about Tucker and his staff’s emphasis on delivering the kill shot, the TKO, having the killer instinct.

Michigan State SHOULD be able to build a comfortable lead on Saturday, like last week, and like last year’s game against Youngstown State. From there, the emphasis on finding a kill shot, theoretically, should kick in, and protect against the chance of a backdoor cover.

This is the most I’ve ever written about betting odds in this space, and I may live to regret it. Please know that I don’t bet. I don’t gamble. I just dont because it’s … too much of a gamble. Over the long term, I don't like my chances.

But this game, for my interest, seems less about whether Michigan State will win or lose, but HOW Michigan State will win, by how much, and whether Akron will provide some tests.

Akron’s pass protection is bad. But it improved in the fourth quarter last week when they changed out their left tackle.

Their running back is decent, a sophomore transfer from Minnesota (Cam Wylie). But the zone blocking scheme lacks, ahem, zip.

Michigan State should be able to stop the run, make Akron one-dimensional, and then riddle the pocket with a Spartan pass rush which was better than anyone expected last week.

Akron’s offensive line isn’t nearly as good as Western Michigan’s.

So, WHEN Akron attempts the deep shot, will quarterback D.J. Irons have time to throw?

He has good mobility, but I didn’t see Akron attempt any designed roll out passes. I would think they should have some roll out deep shots in the play book this week. That might give them a chance to connect a couple of times.

Akron's defense isn’t as good as Western Michigan’s. Their inside linebacker is pretty good, a second-team All-MAC guy.

They have former Michigan player Jaylen Kelly-Powell at safety. But their other safety is very shaky. And when Kelly-Powell sits (he sat for 21 snaps last week), then both safeties are extremely shaky.

Akron has a couple of decent defensive ends, including a Wyoming transfer and a Syracuse transfer from Detroit Cass Tech (Zach Morton), whom I had in the Top 25 on the 25th as a sleeper (and I ended up being kind of wrong about him).

Meanwhile, Payton Thorne will be driven to compete against himself and be much sharper than he was a week ago.

St. Francis rushed for 189 against Akron last week. I think Jalen Berger AND Jarek Broussard have a good chance to each be over 100 yards rushing in this game. It will be interesting to see who is MSU's No. 3 running back. And I think we will see Noah Kim get playing time in the fourth quarter.

Akron played press coverage on the corners a fair amount last week. Maybe they will dial that back against Michigan State. But if and when they play press, Michigan State will check to deep shots to Jayden Reed and/or Keon Coleman, and succeed.

Basically, Moorhead, as a first year coach of a floundering program, has a losing hand right now. He has no pressure on him. His players will play loose. The QB has ability. He has some good WRs, and a decent TE, and the RB isn’t bad. But at the line of scrimmage, when it comes to blocking and tackling, getting off of blocks and pursuing, this shouldn’t be competitive for very long.

I look for Michigan State to go with quick tempo, and increase the number of possessions in this game, which should increase MSU’s chances of winning comfortably. Also, quick tempo would make Akron go to second stringers on defense earlier and often, which also plays into MSU’s hands, as the talent dropoff is significant.

THE 411 ON AKRON

Akron went 2-10 last year. They lost 60-10 at Auburn and 45-24 to Temple.

They fired head coach Tom Arth last year. He was 3-24 at Akron after taking over for Terry Bowden, who left for Louisana Monroe.

It’s a tough situation for Moorhead. But he’s working on it. He brought in 25 players from the transfer portal, plus 20 recruits. That’s 45 new faces. He changed the helmet with a new “A” logo.


FORMER SPARTANS FOR AKRON

Speaking of second-stringers, former Michigan State linebacker Jeslord Boateng played 20 snaps as a second-string inside linebacker last week for Akron.

9 LB JESLORD BOATENG (6-1, 235, R-Jr., Dublin, Ohio, Coffman High)

He was a three-star recruit, ranked No. 31 in Ohio by Rivals.com.

He looks okay getting off the bus and jogging around in warm-ups. His straight-line speed is okay. But his change of direction isn’t great, and I wonder about his focus.

* He started 10 games last year and led Akron in tackles (80) and tackles for loss (4.5). He ranked No. 14 in the MAC in tackles per game last year.

I’m not sure why his role was reduced last weekend. But he managed to make three tackles.

* At Michigan State he played 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2019, and played in all seven games, primarily on special teams, during the COVID shortened season of 2020.

He was one of 17 scholarship players who entered the transfer portal during Mel Tucker’s first 12 months as head coach.

Boateng came to Michigan State ranked the No. 31 player in Ohio. LBs coach Mike Tressel said good things about him initially, but when we finally saw him on the field for nine snaps in the Pinstripe Bowl, he looked stiff. Didn’t look good. I watched him closely in that game because he represented part of the hope and future at the LB position, but it didn’t look promising.

MSU’s second-string linebackers when Tucker took over in 2020 were not good: Marcel Lewis, Luke Fulton and Boateng. The projected starters, if Michigan State had run a 4-3 in 2020, were Noah Harvey, Antjuan Simmons and Chase Kline. Harvey proved to be functional, but Simmons was the only impact player of the six.

Fulton transferred to Kentucky and only played on special teams last year. Kline played a few games last year for MSU in a bit role, entered the portal, and transferred to Eastern Michigan.

As for Boateng, he mainly plays as one of two inside linebackers in a base 3-4 defense.

Three plays from Boateng caught my eye last week:

* He came on a blitz from the slot LB position last week, and moved pretty well, hit the QB (pass was complete).

- He made a mistake in goal line defense. Everyone was one-gapping, but he two-gapped right into the TE’s chest rather than hosting his gap. Ball carrier went right through the gap that looked like the one he was supposed to host. 1-yard TD, Akron trailed 10-3.

- Looked very stiff in pass defense in the flat area, losing leverage, getting juked and giving up a third-and-15 conversion in the third quarter. I didn’t see him play for the rest of the game.


2 RB/WR ANTHONY WILLIAMS (6-1 ,185, R-Soph.) RB from Chicago/Bolingbrook High)

He is listed as a RB. He played RB last year. But he lined up as a second-string WR last week. He had no catches or targets. He played 12 snaps. If he lined up as a RB, I didn’t notice.

* He rushed for 207 yards last year (3.6 per carry) with one touchdown.

* Played in 12 games for Michigan State in 2019 as a freshman. He rushed for 118 yards and one TD on 38 carries. He had six catches for 77 yards.

He ranked third on the team in rushing in 2019 behind Elijah Collins (988 yards) and Brian Lewerke (363 yards). Williams averaged 3.1 yards per carry.

He had four carries in 2020 while playing behind Jordon Simmons, Connor Heyward, Brandon Wright and Collins, when Collins was healthy.

He entered the transfer portal in November of 2020, midway through Tucker’s first season at Michigan State.

* He was ranked the No. 14 player in Illinois by Rivals.com.

Williams was one of the true freshman whom Dantonio mentioned impressed him right away, early in 2019. But the early impressions and promise didn’t lead to much.

* Tucker had some heart-to-heart sit-downs with players during his first year as head coach. It's not hard to figure out that guys like Boateng and Williams were told that their chances of getting playing time at Michigan State were slim. So you can imagine their motivation factor this week. Whether or not that has any impact on the game, or even some of the play calling, is an interesting side story to watch.

* Other notable transfers: DB Jaylen Kelly-Powell (6-0, 180, R-Sr.,) of Detroit Cass Tech, a transfer from the University of Michigan.

He was a four-star recruit when he committed to Michigan. He was ranked the No. 8 player in Michigan. I, with my big mouth, thought he was barely a Top 15 player in the state. On the rare occasion when I’ve written that Michigan four-star recruits were overrated (Will Campbell, Logan Tuley-Tillman, Jaylen Kelly-Powell), my accuracy rate has been pretty good. That’s not a slight against Kelly-Powell. He can’t help how high he was rated. He is who he is, and he does his best. I respect him.

Kelly-Powell was actually functional at Michigan. Not bad. He played special teams and was a second-string DB.

He’s pretty good at Akron. He gives good effort and tackles well

Last year, he started 11 games and had 73 tackles. He had 16 tackles against Buffalo. He was Academic All-MAC last year and is pursuing his masters is sports sciences/coaching.


AKRON STYLE OF PLAY

They want to play uptempo spread. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea against Michigan State. I mean, you should do what you train to do. But if Akron wants to hang in this game, they need to run the play clock and shorten it, in my opinion. The more times the ball gets snapped, the more chances Michigan State has to deliver kills shots.

KEY PLAYERS TO KNOW

I’m not going to go over every player, but here are some to be aware of:

QB DJ IRONS (6-6, 210 R-Jr., Lawrenceville, Ga./Iowa Central CC)

* Last year: 65 percent completions, 892 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs, 474 rush yards.

He’s interesting. He’s okay. He’ll entertain you.

He runs pretty well for a big guy. His arm is strong.

Based on his game last week, I would say his accuracy is substandard in the short and intermediate game. But his 65 pct completion rate from last year is pretty good, and give me reason for pause.

Down-in and down-out, he isn’t great - especially behind his poor pass protection. But he does enough good stuff that if put together a highlight tape and delete the incompletions, you could make him look like Byron Leftwich when he came to Spartan Stadium as Marshall’s quarterback back in 2000.

Irons is kind of an athletic cross between Bobby McAllister and Tony Banks. Decent athlete, not great. A little awkward. Not nearly the passing skill of Banks, but some of the arm strength.

Another comparison would be a watered down version of Tyree Jackson, if you remember the 6-foot-7 QB from the University of Buffalo a couple of years ago (from Muskegon). (NFL free agent cut, then resigned as TE with the Eagles, made one start, tore his ACL is now on injured reserve).

+ Irons can really hose the 15 yard out to the wide side of the field. Nice easy sling on him.

* Goes through progressions. He is not a one-read, duck and chuck guy. He makes reads, whether or not he has time.

- Inaccuracy? He threw behind WR Adams on a slant on an RPO on 3-3 in the first quarter.

Solid player, solid QB. He’ll give Michigan State’s pass defense a good sparring partner.

He’s a different skill set than the WMU QB from a week ago, but I don’t expect him to be quite as sharp with intermediate stuff as the WMU QB.


WR 18 SHOCKY JACQUES-LOUIS (6-0, 180, Sr.)

* Transfer from Pitt

* He started 27 games at Pitt with 82 career catches. Started eight games for Pitt last year. Why did he transfer? No idea.

Interestingly, Akron’s best WR from last year transferred to Pitt. So it’s kind of like they traded wide receivers. Really strange.

Jacque-Louis is good. Last week, I said WMU wide receiver Corey Crooms was good, rising from being their No. 3 a guy a year earlier. Crooms is good. But Jacques-Louis is better.

Solid with intemediate routes, and he has speed to threaten you with the deep ball.

He had eight catches for 122 yards last week.


3 WR DANIEL GEORGE (6-2, 210, R-Sr.)

* Transfer from Penn State.

* Was a four-star recruit from Fort Washington (Md.) Oxon Hill High. Ranked No 238 in the nation.

* He had four catches for 73 yards last week, including a 39-yarder.

* Holds record for longest reception in Penn State history at 95 yards.

+ Early in the game, Akron scripted a middle slip screen to him for about 20 yards.

+ 39-yard catch last week on third-and-18 in the fourth quarter. Irons got it to him from the right hash to outside the numbers to the left, more than 50 yards in the air, on a flip. Tight spiral, low trajectory.

* Moorhead recruited George when Moorhead was at Penn State.


7 WR ALEX ADAMS (6-1, 185, Soph., Osyka, Miss.)

* slot WR. Had two catches last week.

* 16 yard dig.

* Was committed to Mississippi State when Moorhead was head coach at Mississippi State. Ended up signing with LSU.



1 RB CAM WYLIE (6-0, 205, Soph., Las Vegas)

* Transfer from Minnesota.

* 21 carries for 84 yards last week, with a long of 13.

* Decent RB. Nothing scary. He won’t have much daylight in this game.

* Was the second-leading rusher at Minnesota in 2020. Played in three games for Minnesota last year.

* They scripted a shovel pass to him on the opening series last week (negated by holding).

+ Had a 14-yard catch in the red zone in the fourth quarter last week on a nice little flat/slant combination, which is a good man-to-man beater. He caught the flare in the flat and turned it upfield for an easy gain.


TE 25 TRISTIAN BRANK (6-4, 250, Jr., Asheville, NC)

* Was second-team All-MAC last year with 25 catches for 269 yards with three touchdowns.

* Tyler Hunt type.

+ TD last week on an 8-yard play action seam route.


TE TJ BANKS (6-5, 240, R-Jr.)

* Nice catch over the middle, taking a hit to secure it on a dig route for 20 yards.

* Transfer from West Virginia

* Legit TE. Looked pretty good on a dig route then some yards after contact.

* Brank was All-MAC last year, but Banks looks a little more dangerous to me.


OFFENSIVE LINE

This group is a weakness. They allowed 5.2 sacks per game last year, the most in the country. It’s a new coaching staff, but it’s hard to change an o-line overnight.

Akron allowed seven sacks to St. Francis last week. Not good.

The left tackle, No. 77 (Xavier Gray, 6-9, 330, Massillon, Ohio), really struggled. If he is in the starting group during pre-game, I would like to know what the over/under is on Jacoby Windmon sacks.

Gray was replaced by No. 75, Jordan Daniels, in the fourth guard. Daniels (6-5, 310, R-Soph.) was a little bit better.

Who is starting at LT for Akron? That’s one of the first things I’ll be curious about.

(Who’s starting at LT for Michigan State? We’ll get to that in a moment. Spoiler alert: I don’t know).

As for the rest of the o-line, their center isn’t bad. No. 55, 55 ANTHONY WHIGAN (6-4, 325, Sr., transfer from Penn State)

The RG, 76, really struggled against a stunt in OT last week.

It’s just a rough outfit.


AKRON DEFENSE

* They played quite a bit of press man-to-man. Will they do that against Michigan State? They shouldn’t. When they show it, look for Michigan State to go to deep ball automatics.

44 DE VICTOR JONES (6-4, 255, Sr., Sacramento, Calif./Wyoming)

* Transfer from Wyoming

* Long legs and pretty good core and lower body strength.

* QB pressure last week off a spin move and second-effort motor.

* not a nimble change-of-direction guy.

* Decent job getting with vs outside zone and setting the edge. Solid IQ and some physical tools to carry it out.

* Not well-conditioned. Was tired at critical moments in the fourth quarter last week.

* He had 16 tackles last year at Wyoming with a team-high 3.5 sacks.

* He mostly played on the left side. Spencer Brown should be able to keep him quiet.


27 ILB BUBBA ARSLANIAN (5-10, 220, R-Sr., Aurora, Ohio)

* Was second-team All-MAC in 2020. Only played four games last year due to injury.

* Runs okay sideline to sideline, decent with hands to shed blocks. Kind of a thicker Cal Haladay type, but shorter and stockier. Over 250 career tackles. He

Averages 7.5 tackles per game for his career, which ranks No. 13 in the country among active players.

* The CBs are mediocre. The safeties, other than Kelly-Powell, are kind of late all the time.

But one of the safeties, 15, KJ Martin (6-2, 190, Jr.) delivered a couple of nice hits last week and was a Freshman All-America at West Virginia in 2019.

But there was a lot of daylight around the safeties in pass coverage last week.


No. 16, Nate Thompson (6-3, 210, Jr., Sanford, N.C./ Duke transfer) bit on a play action pass last week and gave up a critical deep ball in the fourth quarter last week, for 44 yards. I would look for the return of the flea flicker for Michigan State at some point in this game.


THE LATEST ON MICHIGAN STATE

Brandon Baldwin was a bit of a surprise starter at LT last week. I thought he moved well. He has long arms and good feet. He’s athletic. He’s not as sturdy and strong as they need right now, but his future is promising.

Jarrett Horst came on and was solid, functional, driven. I’m kind of expecting Horst to start this week, OR if he comes off the bench I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays as much or more snaps in comparison to Baldwin.

Michigan State probably needs Horst to be the guy at LT in order for this team to meet its potential. But Michigan State is taking baby steps with him. In the meantime, it’s good to get Baldwin some work and get him acclimated, in case the job becomes Baldwin’s on a full-time basis at some point.

* I’m a Matt Carrick fan. I liked him last year before he got hurt. I thought he was okay against WMU, but not as good as Brian Greene. That looks like a healthy competition going on at right guard.

I watched Greene in a couple of games last year, including Washington State's bowl game against Central Michigan. Greene looked better last week than he did last year, and he said that was going to be the case. He was a little dinged up last year.

But everyone is a little quicker in week one than they are in November. I need to keep that in mind when Broussard, Greene and even Jayden Reed looked quicker to me than they did a year ago.

* Michigan State needs kicker Jack Stone to get some work. A stalled out drive or two at the 30-yard line would not be a bad thing. Michigan State needs to know if the Spartans can depend on him. In the meantime, his competition with Auburn transfer Ben Patton is ongoing.

* I don’t have any health updates on Xavier Henderson. My hunch is that he will be out this week, and at least a little longer. The immobilizer and crutches were concerning last week, but I’ve heard that the prognosis isn’t as bad as originally feared. What that means, I’m not sure.

But Michigan State is going to have to go with Angelo Grose and Kendell Brooks.

Those guys needs some deep field tests in this game because they are going to get major tests through the air next week at Washington. Major.

* Simeon Barrow was excellent in the first half last week, but played only about 10 snaps in the second half last week (contrary to other reports that said he sat out the whole second half).

I went back and looked for any pile-ups or limps from him and I didn’t see any.

Meanwhile, Mel Tucker lamented the fact that Michigan State had some bouts with cramps in that game. Reading between the lines, my educated guess is that Barrow was one of the players battling cramps.

Broadcasters are never supposed to speculate about injuries, but I’m not a broadcaster, so I don’t mind speculating once in awhile. My speculation is that Jayden Reed and Angelo Grose also battled cramps.

* I’ll be looking for Barrow to demolish the interior this week, and for Jacob Slade to bounce back from a pedestrian performance against WMU. If Slade has another quiet game, I’ll be a little less high on this defense.

* Ameer Speed didn’t get tested a lot last week, but I would like to see him lock up with Jacques-Louis a few times and get some work there.

* With Darius Snow out, Aaron Brulé becomes the option for the “big” nickel position if and when Michigan State goes against bigger run personnel. But Akron doesn’t play that. So that portion of Brulé’s role will have to wait for other games.

Meanwhile, I would expect Brulé to get more than the nine snaps he had last week. Michigan State will need Brulé and Ma’a Gaoteote to become part of the rotation. Gaoteote didn’t see the field last week and I don’t think he was in uniform.

I’m anticipating that Cal Haladay and Ben VanSumeren will start at the LB positions. VanSumeren was a surprise last week with his ability to defeat blocks, spill plays and run them down for tackles.

However, I thought he was a beat late on some run plays between the tackles last week. I’d like to see him grow and become more instinctive and decisive at times in run defense between the tackles. He’s a veteran in terms of age but still kind of inexperienced in terms of being an every-down linebacker. Last week was his time as a first-stringer from start to finish in a game. He made some noise. Now, Michigan State needs him to build on that.


ADD IT ALL UP

The entire playbook should be open for Michigan State. Michigan State should have time to throw, and open receivers, and a productive run game, and a highly-focused Thorne.

On defense, Irons will test Michigan State with some occasional deep shots. Michigan State needs the work.

Western Michigan had 182 yards in ground gainers last week. Michigan State needs to tighten those screws this week. Michigan State should be able to keep Akron under 80 yards rushing. If not, then I would be worried about MSU’s defense going forward.

Listen live below:

New 2023 offer, Treshaun Lyons, is interesting. Had a great season opener. I’ll have to dig more on week two. Only one OV from what I can tell to Washington. Could be some strategy behind that move with the game coming up.

Washington and Notre Dame are thought to be the main competitors.

Jobe makes AA game.. Big for him.

Lastly a repeat note on Marsh and Beasley

Jackson covers his four official visit spots and names contenders for his fifth on Rivals:

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The Tweet provides most of the information. Augustine is rated a 4/5 star by Neutral Zone.

A deep dive into a few things.

MSU continues their hot streak landing 2005 defenseman Frederic Deschenes.

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Gather 'round

2006 left-sided defenseman Garin Ludwig committed to MSU earlier today. Ludwig is a 3.75/5 star and the No. 138 recruit in his class, per Neutral Zone.

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East Lansing, Mich. - Cutting to the chase with 14 things that I think I think about Western Michigan, following by 7 things I'll be looking for from Michigan State:


1. I say this every year, but I need to make the point that I haven’t seen either of these teams play.

Obviously.

None of us have. We saw most of the players on these teams play eight or nine months ago. That’s what we have to go on. Yet we sit around on talk shows and try to offer intelligent opinions on who we think is going to win the Utah vs Florida game.

It’s kind of insane.

But our love for football is insane too. So we spend weeks and even months pondering the first college football game of the season, and wondering how it’s going to go down.

For Pitt vs West Virginia, that’s a noble, understandable undertaking. Big game. Two Power Five teams.

For Michigan State vs Northwestern last year, understandable undertaking. Big game.

For Michigan State vs Western Michigan, it’s a little more tricky.

Western Michigan is not SUPPOSED to be able to beat a Big Ten team. Yet we’ve seen Michigan State lose to MAC teams three times in modern history. And Western Michigan upset Pitt at Pitt last year.

So it IS possible.

However, Western Michigan lost a very good quarterback to NFL aspirations (went undrafted and received a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks), and an outstanding WR in Skyy Moore, who was drafted in the second round by the Kansas City Chiefs.


2. What do we know about WMU? The Broncos were 8-5 last year, 5-5 in the MAC.

They had a very good, balanced offense that could cat and mouse you to shreds.

They racked up 517 yards of offense, 357 through the air and an impressive 160 YARDS RUSHING against Pitt last year.


3. Two starters are back on the offensive line and two quality running backs, including former Spartan LaDarius Jefferson.

Jefferson (6-1, 238, Sr., Muskegon) has some power, a little bit of wiggle and some fall-forward tenacity. He led WMU in rushing in 2020 with just over 600 yards. And he ranked second on the team in rushin glast year with 836 yards and 10 TDs.

Sean Tyler (5-8, 185, Jr.) rushed for, 1,140 yards last year and 9 TDs. He can bounce it outside, make people miss and has excellent short-area burst. You need to keep leverage on the ball when converging on him. Don’t take a false step. Don’t make a wrong-shoulder pursuit. Team leverage and gang tackle.

I’m not saying his ultra dangerous, but if you are undisciplined (like Miami last year) he can get to daylight, squirt free and move the chains.


4. Last year, against Pitt, they played Jeffers and Tyler TOGETHER a few times. That’s uncommon in this age of football.

On one occasion, they ran an RPO, faked a handoff to Jefferson while reading the overhang defender and threw the ball to Tyler.

So that’s a fake to one RB and a pass to the other, and it went for a red zone TD against Pitt.


5. That was with last year’s offensive coordinator.

WMU had a nice season on offense last year, but changed their offensive coordinator.

Last year, they had co-offensive coordinators. One left for Indiana State (most likely fired). The other was demoted to RBs coach and pass game coordinator.

That made room for Jeff Thorne, the father of Michigan State QB Payton Thorne.

Thorne was 65-10 in seven years as head coach at Division III North Central College in Naperville, Ill. He won a National Championship in 2019.

How much will the offense change with Thorne?

Michigan State has been scouting NCC’s offense over the last few years for clues.

Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker says they have not consulted Payton Thorne about his father’s offense. I’m not sure whether I believe that or not.

WMU head coach Tim Lester was a QB at Western Michigan. I suspect that much of what WMU did on offense last year was of Lester’s design and preference. But that’s just a guess.

We know enough about Kirk Ferentz at Iowa that regardless of who he has as “offensive coordinator,” there are a family of plays that the Hawkeyes have run for years and will continue to run as long as Ferentz is there.

I don’t know enough about Lester to ascertain whether the RPOs that WMU ran so effectively last year vs Pitt will remain the blood and guts of their offense.

Tucker says, due to unknowns, Michigan State is sure to encounter “unscouted looks.”

Tucker and Michigan State defensive players have talked this week about this being a “rules” game. Meaning that they will stick to base defensive rules and concepts more so than having more specific scheme-stopping answers and components that you would see later in the season when you have a better idea of what you are going to see from an opponent.

Is this a dangerous thing? It’s not ideal. But, if you win the game, it’s also a good way to get your base defensive stuff nailed down and executed. It’s good to build on, IF you win.


6. WMU’s RPO stuff was so good against Pitt last year. But that stuff has always been good against Pat Narduzzi defenses, at least between the 20-yard lines. WMU beat Pitt by finishing in the red zone.

The QB was so good at making reads and dishing the ball to WR Moore in the slot. He had 10 catches in the first three quarters.

However, two weeks earlier in the opener, Michigan held Moore to only two catches. I didn’t bother re-watching that game, partly because that QB and that WR are gone.

Now there’s a new QB and a new offensive coordinator. But WMU has Lester back. I’m thinking we are going to continue to see a heavy reliance on the RPO game.

“They’re QB driven,” an anonymous opposing Mid-American Conference assistant coach told Athlon’s in the national preview magazine. “They have a good, simple plan. They’re going to find a handful of playmakers and get them as many touches as they can.”

So who are those playmakers?


7. The QB is Jack Salopek (6-3, 186, R-Fr., Irwin, Pa).

“He has had a great camp,” Lester said.

He played in two games last year. He was 3-of-5 through the air for the season, and I watched all three completions in the Pitt game.

He looked composed and capable. It’s a short sample size but if you were to ask me who kind of looked like, I would say Tyler O’Connor.

The three completions:

* He connected with an outside receiver on a short hitch for four yards out of a two-by-two formation. One read. Pitch and catch. Made the pre-snap read, saw a free release for that WR and zipped it to him.

* On third-and-one, they ran an RPO. He faked a handoff, and sent a good rip to WR Moore for a gain of 7.

The ball was received 1 yard past the line of scrimmage. Moore had a free release in the slot area (same thing Baylor did against Narduzzi’s defense in 2014 17 or 18 times for short gains).

Not a difficult read. Free release. Take the snap, don’t look anywhere else, just zip it out to him.

But the mechanics looked efficient and solid. No wasted motion. No funny deliver. Ball trigger was out relatively quickly.

* On first-and-10, Salopek threw to WR Moore again for a gain of 9. Again, it was an RPO, faking the handoff, reading the defenders, seeing Moore in the slot on a free release, and fired to him on a slant.

Easy read. Good pitch and catch. Solid.

Then Salopek went out and was done for the day, and pretty much the year.

Salopek started the second half against Pitt. The other QB was seen scrambling around on the sidelines, going here and there. I never found out whether the starting QB was injured, or if WMU wanted to give this Pittsburgh native the opening drive of the second half in his hometown. I don’t know. But he played the opening series, got a couple of first downs and looked capable.


8. So Salopek has played against a Power Five opponent on the road. Pitt’s stadium was half full that day. The environment will be louder at Michigan State on Friday night.

However, this is not an in-state kid trying to prove himself against an in-state school that turned him down. That was his situation last year, for three pass attempts.

Now, it’s the usual case of a regional kid trying to prove he was under-recruited.

Facing a redshirt-freshman making his first start is certainly preferable for Michigan State to playing a senior, record-breaking signal caller like Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan who beat the Spartans in 2009.

* Salopek is a capable mid-major D-1 QB, out to prove himself. Payton Thorne was very nearly in the same place. Thorne committed to WMU in May of his junior year, but then decommitted after Michigan State offered the following December.

Kirk Cousins was probably headed to WMU (or maybe Colorado) if Michigan State hadn’t come through with an 11th-hour scholarship offer soon after Mark Dantonio was hired.

My point is that good QBs often land at WMU, like the one they had last year, like Tim Lester back in the late 1990s, and probably, like Salopek. It wouldn’t surprise me if he becomes a four-year starter and 10,000-plus yard career thrower.

So how good is he right now? I’ll stick with the O’Connor comparison for now.

What does he have to work with? Those two RBs are rock solid. Jefferson isn’t the most explosive guy, but he’s an experienced, tough, hard-working type of guy who has some fall-forward capabilities.

How well will Michigan State rally to the ball against Jefferson and prevent that fall-forward yardage, how well will Michigan State corral Tyler and smother his wiggle?

These are good tests for Michigan State. It’s not like facing Ohio State, but WMU is a good sparring partner in these respects.


9. As for receivers, WMU’s top returner is Corey Crooms. Crooms (5-11, 185, Jr., Country Club Hills, Ill.) had 44 catches for 768 yards last year.

He ranked second on the team in catches and receiving yards last year.

WMU graduated four of its top five receivers.

Crooms is THE ONLY WIDE RECEIVER ON THE ROSTER who caught a pass last year.

With Moore’s success, WMU was able to hit the portal and bring in a couple of Power Five refugees:

* AJ Abbott (6-2, 200, Sr., Northville, Mich.).

He had two catches in 2020, and 1 catch last year in three games.

* Jehlani Galloway (5-11, 187, Sr., Providence, R.I.)

He had two catches in 2020, none last year

“They have both done a good job and are getting more comfortable by the minute,” Lester said.

Anthony Sambucci (6-1, 190, Soph. Lemont, Ill.) has played on special teams and waited for his moment.

As for Crooms, he had four catches for 58 yards against Michigan.

He had eight catches for 161 yards against Pitt.

He had this 75-yard TD in a 52-24 victory over Nevada in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit last year.

In this play, they put him in the slot, found a favorable matchup. He got loose with a double move nod to the post and outside release. A shaky slot defender became off-balance and got burned.

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So what does this play mean for Michigan State? Well, Tim Lester’s offenses, like a lot of offenses, search for matchup advantages from the slot.

Who is your slot defender? If you’re not good there, you have problems. If that guy can’t cover a quick double-move AND provide sturdy play against the run, you have problems.

Most teams have problems.

Last year, Michigan State had Darius Snow as its primary slot defender, although there are times when a safety gets forced into that duty.

Snow was solid last year. But he has moved primarily to inside linebacker, gained about 12 pounds.

Snow says he will play some nickel slot this year as well. He likes to think of himself as a versatile positionless type of second-level defender. But you’ll know when I know. I’m not sure what to expect from Michigan State in terms of nickel defenders.

Chester Kimbrough played nickel in the spring scrimmage. Michigan State likes to have a guy with CB skills in the slot/nickel area against finesse passing attacks. I’m expecting Kimbrough to be that guy as the starter in this game, but I could be wrong.


10. The WMU offensive line returns two starters. I watched those guys against Pitt this week.

Some are projecting Jacob Gideon (6-2, 295, Soph., Union, Ky.) as the starting center for WMU. He played left guard against Pitt. He looked a little clunky, but capable. There was one time he was beaten badly on an inside swim/swipe move. Learning moment. Young guy. I’m not closing the door on him, but he doesn’t seem to be a physical marvel.

Lester says the first-string OL has worked as a unit and stayed intact since the beginning of spring.

“We have three new starters who kind of look like veterans out there,” Lester said.

The three:

LG Trevor Campbell (6-3, 315, R-Sr., Naperville, Ill.)

RG Addison West (6-3, 302, R-Soph., Cary, Ill.)

RT Jack Sherwin (6-3, 298, R-Soph., Traverse City Central)

Shewin is a former yackle who played a lot of blocking tight end until he got his weight up to OT size, Lester said.

Overall, I’m not sure what to think of this offensive line. Lester makes it sound like he’s pleased with the progress.

WMU did some solid stuff with its offensive front last year, working with tight splits, good discipline. They had nice offensive balance.

What does it mean for Michigan State?


11. The Spartan defensive tackles SHOULD dominate against this inexperienced, smallish WMU interior. If the Michigan State d-tackle tag teams are as good as we think they are, they should uproot WMU’s inside zone plays, and their center-pulls and their powers.

The WMU pass game component can’t possibly be as good as last year, which should make it that much more difficult for the Broncos to establish their talented tailbacks.


12. As for defense, WMU ranked No. 4 in the MAC in yards allowed per play last year and seventh in scoring defense.

The Broncos have a capable DT in No. 55 Braden Fiske (6-5, 300, R-Jr., Michigan City, Ind.) He’s a Maverick Hansen type. Fiske had 7.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks last year.

At d-end, Andre Carter (No. 1, 6-5, 263, R-Jr., Detroit Cass Tech) doesn’t look out of place. He had five TFLs last season.

I don’t have much of anything on the other guys.


14. WMU’s has three starting LBs returning.

No. 20 is the guy in the middle, Corvin Moment (6-0, 245, R-Sr., Vero Beach, Fla.). He had three TFLs last year.

He has average change of direction, average burst. Decent size. Not a difference-maker. Kind of a Shane Jones type of guy, but with longer hair, a little thicker, maybe a little slower.

No. 3 is their other inside linebacker, Zaire Barnes (6-1, 227, Sr., Mundelin, Ill.) He had five TFLs last year and was second-team All-MAC.

He has quick feet, and can slalom through the wash. He’s what I call a sports car linebacker, kind of like Antjuan Simmons.


13. What does this mean for MSU’s offensive line?

The Spartan o-line is probably the biggest x-factor on the team. There are five guys in the starting lineup with starting experience.

But Jarrett Horst needs to stay grounded at left tackle. He’s key. He’s proven.

JD Duplain should be ready to take a step toward becoming a plus player at left guard.

At center, Nick Samac has kind of flat-lined in the last couple of years while sharing time with Matt Allen. Many might have assumed that he would have overtaken Allen last year, but he didn’t. He struggled in the Peach Bowl.

Now that Samac is THE man at center, he needs to get his slope of improvement on the uptick again. We’ll see how he does against Fiske and company in the first public sparring of the season.

Things look favorable for Matt Carrick at right guard. I’ve said many times that I thought he was playing the best football of his career last year when he was a back-up at right guard for Kevin Jarvis. Carrick was an emergency spot starter at right guard as a freshman and sophomore. But he was better last year - until he went down with a knee injury midway through the season.

Coaches and doctors brought him along steadily but slowly during the spring, summer and early part of training camp. But from the things we’ve seen, it appears he has been repping with the ones at right guard, and things sound favorable.

Michigan State brought in Brian Greene as a transfer from Washington State. He was honorable mention All-Pac 12 in four games at WSU in 2020. I never saw film of him in 2020, but I saw film of him last year and he was just kind of okay. He was NOT as good last year as Matt Carrick was.

Greene has the ability to play center, so that may have helped snap Samac to attention.

Greene is a solid reliever to have in the bullpen. But if Carrick starts in front of him, i wouldn’t be surprised.

If Greene starts, that means he beat out what I assume is a decent version of Carrick. Either way, the competition has a chance to yield a solid RG situation.

At right tackle, Spencer Brown was a pleasant surprise in his emergency start in the Peach Bowl, against a terrific Pitt defensive end rotation. But Brown was just kind of okay in the spring scrimmage.

I don’t think Brown has knocked anyone dead during preseason practice, but we are hearing good things about his leadership. He wants to deliver. He has the frame to do it.

Brown proved to be a gamer in the bowl game. That’s a good sign.


14. The big question on the Michigan State offensive line:

If Horst needs to rotate out, like he did last year, who is No. 2 at LT. Brandon Baldwin (6-7, 315, R-Soph.) has been getting a lot of reps in practice with the ones, dating back to last spring.

He’s a long-armed athlete with nice movement skills. Would he be ready to float at left tackle in a sink-or-swim emergency? That’s what we need to find out.

Ethan Boyd (6-7, 325, R-Fr., East Lansing) is right on schedule at right tackle. He has gotten some reps at the ones when Brown has needed to a stool.

Is Boyd better at RT than Baldwin is at LT? That’s debatable. That’s possible.

How about Spencer Brown? Michigan State rep'd him at left tackle in the spring, and other times, just to get him acclimated to the position in case of emergency.

So if Horst has to come out, who is the left tackle? Baldwin? Or do you go with Spencer Brown at LT and use Boyd at RT?

Only the guys in the war room know the answer to that, but it’s a scenario they have rehearsed and must be prepared for.


**


Overall, the WMU defensive front is decent by MAC standards, but if Michigan State has the type of offensive line that can help Michigan State make noise in the Big Ten East then the Spartans SHOULD win this matchup soundly.

Last year, Michigan rushed for 335 yards against WMU in a 47-14 victory. Michigan had 43 rush attempts and only 17 pass attempts.

Michigan’s ground attack was mature and steady last year. Michigan State isn’t expected to be at that level this year, but some TKO moments in the run game, without Kenneth Walker III, would be a welcomed sign for the Spartans.


SEVEN THINGS I’LL BE WATCHING RE: Michigan State

1. Who is the starting RB? How explosive is Michigan State at that position? Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard have ability to and through the hole, but I am not expecting Michigan State to have home run ability at the RB position comparable to last year. That’s no surprise. Does Michigan State have the personnel elsewhere to make up for it? And can the new corps of RBs be productive?

We haven’t heard much about Harold Joiner, but he continues to work. Can Michigan State find ways to get the ball to him in space, maybe like Connor Heyward? You’ll know when I know.


2. The TE picture is intriguing and positive for Michigan State. Daniel Barker, the Illinois transfer, is expected to give the Spartans their first two-way (blocking and receiving) tight end of the Tucker era. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson wants pieces like that. How much will Barker figure into the chain-moving schematics. I’m eager to find out.

Tyler Hunt is a proven player, and improved at 15 pounds heavier.

Maliq Carr is the future at the position. He has been behind the wall a bit (NASCAR term) in August camp, but his time should come at some point. He might not start this season with the type of bang we might expect after his loud finish to 2021.


3. We know Jayden Reed is excellent. We know Tre Mosley can deliver when called upon. Keon Coleman and Germie Bernard are the future. Coleman is primed for a breakout performance. He has gotten a lot of ink during the spring and summer. He’s worthy of it. Now he needs to produce with the lights on. Solid chance he has a big breakout on Friday night. And Bernard isn’t far behind.


4. At place kicker, I’m kind of expecting true freshman Jack Stone to get the call. But Auburn transfer Ben Patton is more than capable, and proven at this level. Overall, I feel better about MSU’s place kicker situation than I did six months ago, mainly because there are two solid competitors vying for the job, plus a third in walk-on Steve Rusnak.


5. At defensive end, Michigan State is bit thin and not all that big. Does WMU have the tools to go at this potential weakness? Yes, WMu has the RBs, but do they have the blockers to really challege Michigan State at the edge? They’ll try.

Khris Bogle, the transfer from Florida, needs to show that he is a gamer. He hasn’t knocked anyone dead in practice. He has decent, long-arm, wiry-strength at the point of attack for a play or two. Can he do it play after play? That’s what he came here to do. Friday, we begin to find out.

Jeff Pietrowski has been a solid role player as a d-end. Is he ready to become a bell cow? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Brandon Wright is one of the more improved players in the program. I think he is ready to pay on running downs and provide the occasional plus play in pass rush.

Will Wright and Pietrowski (and even Slade and Barrow) look noticeably improved in their pass rush, thanks to the work of new pass rush coach Brandon Jordan? You’ll begin to find out when I do.


6. Will Michigan State reconfigure anything in the pass defense? Angelo Grose is a respectable battler. He’s a hitter, a good tackler. But Michigan State needs reliable ball judgement and pass defense back there at safety. Xavier Henderson is going to provide it. Grose struggled in that area last year in his first season (ever) as a safety. Michigan State has worked to bring him along. Is he ready? If not, what’s Plan B? Is there a second-strong safety ready to step up, or is there a new grouping with multiple cornerbacks on the field? And if so, can a lighter back seven support the run?


7. Darius Snow. He is improving rapidly, too. I’m hearing good things about him. He was solid last year as a nickel. I’m hearing now that he is about 12 or 13 pounds heavier, and a year smarter, he is smacking people at his new position as a linebacker. I think he’s going to be a starter. I think he will team up well with Aaron Brulé or Cal Haladay. The rotation will be good.

Jacoby Windmon came in to be a slash LB/DE. It looks like he is more of a d-end at this point, and that’s what Michigan State needs. Whether or not he is ready to make a big impact from day one is a bit of a question. But be patient. He will make a nice impact soon.


ADD IT ALL UP

In nine games against Power Five and Power Independent opponents in the Tim Lester era, WMU has given up 40-plus points in eight of those nine games. The lone exception was a 28-14 affair against a poor Michigan State offense in 2017.

WMU is 1-8 in those games, losing by 33 to Michigan, 19 to Syracuse, 34 to Michigan State, 23 to Syracuse, 46 to Michigan, 31 to BYU, 14 to Michigan State and 18 to USC.

The one victory was WMU’s most recent game against a Power Five opponent, last year’s 44-41 upset victory over eventual ACC Champion Pittsburgh.

So is WMU going to look more like the WMU of those other eight games, or more like they did in their most recent game against a Power Five opponent?

WMU has confidence, after an 8-5 season, a bowl victory, and the win at Pitt. And they should be confident and proud.

The question is whether WMU is ready to reload, or if WMU will take a step backward while developing its next dangerous QB?

I suspect the latter.

But we can’t know for sure, because we’ve never seen these guys play. Nor have we seen this version of Michigan State.

If Michigan State is ready to have another Top 15 type of season, then the Spartans should be able to march through this game three touchdowns better than this credible but presumably rebuilding MAC opponent.

If Michigan State is indeed ready to have another Top 15 season, then the Mel Tucker train is only going to gain steam. If that happens, he will continue to establish himself as the most dangerous man in college football, the likes of which Michigan State has never quite had at its helm.

This game against WMU won’t answer the question as to whether Michigan State is ready and able to have another Top 15 or Top 10 season. We might not know the answer to that question for three or four or five more weeks.

But if the answer is “no,” there’s a chance we will get that answer in week one. That’s not the answer you want, coming out of this game.

You want some good exercise, some good sparring, and a convincing victory and a 1-0 record. Real good chance that’s what you’ll get.

Ask and you shall receive:

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Rico did a nice job with this story. Appreciate him going the extra mile to chat with X's father. Good stuff.