3-2-1 on Michigan State victory over CMU in season opener
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State struggled early on offense before the Noah Kim-led offense got rolling in the second half of a 31-7 win over CMU on Friday Night in the season opener at Spartan Stadium.
Continue below for Three Things We Learned, Two Questions, and One Prediction from the Spartan victory.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Carter is a capable feature back for Michigan State.
While I’m still not sold on the Michigan State run-game operation overall, I do think that UConn transfer Nathan Carter is a quality addition to the Spartan backfield. And based on what we saw during the season opener against Central Michigan, Carter and Jalen Berger can be a good 1-2 punch for Michigan State. Carter runs hard and he has some big-play potential in his arsenal.
Michigan State only ran for 127 yards in this game, but the Spartans got a good night’s work from Carter, who went over the century mark with 113 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown.
While Carter is an upgrade at starting running back spot, depth remains a concern. I would have liked to have seen Jaren Mangham play in this game because Michigan State clearly has some issues in its short-yardage run game. Mangham is a big-bodied tailback that can provide a downhill running threat. Not having Nick Samac in the starting line-up at center also hurt the Spartans in short yardage.
Berger, meanwhile, is a respectable back-up. He is a capable receiving threat out of the backfield with four catches for 30 yards. He also got into the scoring column with a nice 12-yard touchdown run in the second half.
With Mangham dinged up a bit, I have questions about depth at the position. Be that as it may, Carter someone Michigan State can build around.
1. Linebacker play is improved
Michigan State felt going into the season that it had three linebackers that could start at most Big Ten programs in Jacoby Windmon, Cal Haladay, and Aaron Brule. All three of those linebackers played well against CMU, and each split reps pretty evenly, staying fresh as a result.
Brule, Windmon, and Haladay combined for 21 tackles in this game. Haladay led team with 10 tackles and Windmon ranked third for the Spartan defense with eight. All three had tackles for loss in this game. Brule and Windmon also registered a sack against a mobile quarterback in Bert Emanuel Jr, who spent much of the night scrambling to elude Michigan State defenders. Haladay didn’t get a sack, but he got something just as good, if not better with an interception.
Michigan State linebackers were not only productive in this game, but they played well together. Not just Windmon, Brule, and Haladay, but also freshman Jordan Hall when he was in the game. The linebacker operation was much smoother tonight than the disjointed play that was common at the position a year ago when Brule and Windmon were new to the defense, and Ben VanSumeren looked uncomfortable making reads and making plays.
3. Sophomore receivers can make big plays for Michigan State
Sophomore wide receivers Jaron Glover, Tyrell Henry, and Antonio Gates Jr. each showed out well for Michigan State in the season opener against CMU. On a night where veteran wideout Tre Mosley and experienced tight end Maliq Carr both had costly drops, the sophomore trio of Glover, Henry, and Gates did their thing.
Glover sparked Michigan State on a two-minute scoring drive that enabled the Spartans to take a lead into the halftime, finishing with three catches for 75 yards. Henry was a spark for the Spartans on special teams throughout the night both as a punt and kick returner. He also had one the nicest touchdowns you’ll see with a one-handed grab in the endzone through pass interference. Gates didn’t catch a ball, but he was targeted once and on that play he drew a pass interference call which kept the drive alive.
This was a big moment for Michigan State’s crew of sophomore receivers. Against CMU, the trio of Glover, Henry, and Gates showed that they can make winning plays for starting quarterback Noah Kim. And in the case of Glover and Henry that they can make difficult plays in critical situations.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. How will Michigan State’s pass defense hold up against the deep ball?
Central Michigan has a nice offensive scheme that prioritizes the run and asks receivers to make relatively easy short to medium catches. The Chippewas do not challenges pass defenses vertically, and that was beneficial to Michigan State. Aside from giving up a first-half touchdown, this was a good game for the Spartan pass defense. The CMU offense, however, did not probe a potential weakness of the Spartan defense. So, we’ll have to wait and see how the back end holds up against a vertical passing threat. For now, however, the jury is still out.
2. Who will emerge as a go-to receiver for Noah Kim?
Kim spread the ball around in his first career start. Nine different Spartans caught passes from Kim in this game. Wide receiver Tre Mosley and tight end Maliq Carr led the offense in targets with six apiece in this game. Carr only caught one pass on those six targets, an 8-yard touchdown grab that served as redemption for two earlier dropped passes. Mosley caught three balls on six targets for 70 yards. He would have likely gone over 100 receiving in this game if he, like Carr, hadn’t dropped a ball. Four additional receivers had three targets or more including sophomore Jaron Glover, who led the Spartans with three catches for 75 yards.
We don’t know right now who Kim’s workhorse receiver will be. That will probably change as the season unfolds. It is, however, refreshing to see that Kim is willing to share the ball and that he isn’t overly committed to a single player.
ONE PREDICTION
1. Jonathan Kim will make more than one 50-yard plus FG this season.
I don’t want to jinx the guy, but Jonathan Kim has one of the strongest legs I’ve seen in person at the college level. His 47-yard field goal in the opening half might have been good from 60 yards or more. I expect him to have an opportunity to knock through some 50-yard plus field goals this season, and if he kicks the ball as well as he did tonight, he’s going to have an opportunity make some of them. Kim making his first collegiate field goal attempt from 47 yards under pressure was a big deal for not only him but the entire Spartan program. For Kim, his first collegiate field goal served as validation for his decision to transfer to Michigan State in his quest to be more than a kick-off specialist. For Michigan State, Kim’s successful field goal was a big deal because the Spartans needed to get their kicking game back on track after a terrible year of kicking field goals in 2022. On Friday night, everything worked the way it’s supposed to.
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