Michigan State pounds Central Michigan, 31-7, in optimistic season opener
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State had to sweat through a difficult first half but came alive in the middle stages of opening night at Spartan Stadium and cruised to a 31-7 victory over Central Michigan, Friday night.
Junior quarterback Noah Kim, making his starting debut for the Spartans, fought through a shaky start, but rallied nicely for 279 yards passing. He was 18-of-31 for the night for 279 yards, after a 3-for-11 start.
Nathan Carter, a transfer running back from UConn, ran quick and hard for 113 yards on 18 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown run.
Jalen Berger, last year’s starting running back, came off the bench to rush for 24 yards on eight carries, including a 12-yard touchdown run.
Berger led Michigan State with four catches.
Freshman wide receiver Jaron Glover gave Michigan State a major lift late in the second quarter with three receptions, good for 75 yards, all coming on one drive – the Spartans’ first TD drive of the game.
Cal Haladay led a Michigan State defense which grew stronger as the game progressed. He had nine tackles for the Spartans, who forced seven three-and-outs. On the negative side, Michigan State’s defense was flagged for four personal fouls – three face masks and one unsportsmanlike conduct.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
After a tight first half, Michigan State gained breathing room late in the third quarter when Jalen Berger cut back for a 12-yard TD run, thanks to a block from tight end Evan Morris, giving Michigan State a 17-7 lead.
A Jacoby Windmon sack on third down returned possession to Michigan State and Kim went to work. He zipped a pretty pass, deep for Christian Fitzpatrick, good for a 72-yard pass play as the depth and size that Michigan State coaches talked about during preseason camp began to take hold.
Two plays later, Kim connected with Tyrell Henry on a slot fade for a 10-yard TD pass. Henry went high and grabbed a one-handed catch while drawing a pass interference flag. That gave Michigan State a 24-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Maliq Carr may have outshined Henry with his leaping, acrobatic touchdown catch from 8 yards out, giving Michigan State a 31-7 lead with 9:05 to play.
Michigan State gained the lead for good, and momentum heading into halftime, with seven-play, 84-yard TD drive. Nathan Carter scored on a 2-yard TD run to give Michigan State a 10-7 lead with :48 seconds left in the first half.
Redshirt-freshman wide receiver Jaron Glover had catches of 10, 32 and 32 yards in fueling the touchdown drive
Noah Kim, who had bouts of inaccuracy, settled down and rifled nice passes on the 32-yarders to Glover.
In addition to a handful of sailed, inaccurate passes in the first half, Kim was also victimized by two dropped passes in the first half by tight end Maliq Carr and wide receiver Tre Mosley as the passing game was wildly inconsistent in the first 30 minutes.
Central Michigan capitalized on two Michigan State face mask penalties in registering a 70-yard TD drive late in the first half, taking a 7-3 lead when QB Bert Emanuel found wide receiver Chris Parker for a 12-yard TD pass. Parker worked free on the back side of Michigan State’s cover-four zone, crossing the face of field safety Jaden Mangham when the back-side cornerback was occupied by a flat route.
Michigan State took a 3-0 lead with 6:55 left in the first half when kicker Jonathan Kim, a transfer from North Carolina, nailed a 47-yard field goal.
In the first quarter, Central Michigan had the deepest penetration of either team into enemy territory, but QB Manuel slipped and fell down on a fourth-and-goal pass play from the 2-yard line. CMU controlled the early portions of the game, and turned away a chance to take a 3-0 lead with a field goal and instead gambled on fourth down and came up empty.
The Spartans will play host to Richmond at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9 (Big Ten Network).
Michigan State out-gained Central Michigan 416-193.
Redshirt freshman QB Bert Emanuel completed 11 of 17 passes for 87 yards. He rushed 17 times for 41 yards.
More coverage and analysis coming via SpartanMag.com.
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