Pre-Snap Read: Analyzing Michigan State’s matchups with Central Michigan
East Lansing, Mich. – Our season-opening Pre-Snap Read is traditionally more about Michigan State and less about the opponent, largely because there is no film on the opponent.
But we do have some strong opinions on Central Michigan. The Chippewa defense is going to be a legit sparring partner. It’s entirely possible that Michigan State’s offense could have some sputters on opening night and that this thing will be a game deep into the third quarter.
But first, with the latest on Michigan State, I’ll begin with our unofficial, projected two-deep in a shorter-than-usual Pre-Snap Read:
OFFENSE
Quarterback
1. Noah Kim
2. Katin Houser
Running Back
1. Nathan Carter
2. Jalen Berger or Jaden Mangham
Tight End
1. Maliq Carr
2. Evan Morris
X-WR
1. Montorie Foster
2. Christian Fitzpatrick
Slot WR
1. Tre Mosley
2. Tyrell Henry
Z-WR
1. Alante Brown
2. Antonio Gates Jr.
Left Tackle
1. Brandon Baldwin
2. Keyshawn Blackstock
Left Guard
1. JD Duplain
2. Kevin Wigenton
Center
1. Nick Samac
2. Dallas Fincher
Right Guard
1. Geno VanDeMark
2. Kristian Phillips
Right Tackle
1. Spencer Brown
2. Ethan Boyd
Five Quick Offensive Takes
1. Quarterback has been the big question during preseason camp. Hunches, vibes and smoke point toward Noah Kim getting the call. Katin Houser closed rapidly in August, and it wasn’t due to anything Kim did wrong. Houser just improved, as a redshirt-freshman should.
When Payton Thorne left, Michigan State had reason to believe they had a game-ready QB in waiting in Kim. Now, there is belief that Michigan State has two. But it seems that Kim did enough to get the call.
If you want my opinion, Michigan State fans would be wise to support whatever decision is made at QB and not resort to the “we want Terry!” nonsense that we saw and heard early in the 2013 season in favor of Damion Terry. None of us watched the scrimmages. Few of us have seen any practice. It’s foolish to think that we know more than the coaches when it comes to choosing a QB.
It’s not my job to advise fans on how to behave (other than a strong recommendation to have rain pants in your closet or in your car because at some point this season, you will probably need them), but I will say that cat calls from the crowd to create a QB controversy do not help your team.
Kim is perfectly capable of playing sharp, winning football from the jump. But opening day slippage is commonplace, if not expected.
2. I’ve got Antonio Gates Jr. rising into the two-deep. I had him in the three-deep earlier in camp. He has a high ceiling of potential and by all accounts has had a good August.
Jaron Glover was ahead of Gates 12 months ago, and the coaches are still high on Glover. Gates is on the move. Enough to break into the two-deep? Enough to break into the playing group? I wouldn’t doubt it.
3. At running back, I heard after the first one-third of August camp that 2022 starter Jalen Berger was getting stiff competition from Carter and Mangham. There were indications that the two transfers were outshining Berger.
Berger is a proven, functional running back. If Carter and Mangham stay healthy, there is a good chance they will provide an upgrade for Michigan State at the position. But the Spartans will need all three.
4. The big unknown is the availability of senior center Nick Samac. Michigan State played deep into August camp with Samac sidelined by an upper body ailment. Samac was confident at mid-August that he was on schedule to be back and in action with no problem.
The question is whether that trek has continued as expected, and whether that plan included him playing in the opener. Coaches are very guarded and quiet about that stuff. I’m taking Samac at his word from mid-August and am expecting him to start.
Offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic will want to get second-stringers into the game. It’s a strong bet that they would like for Samac to sit for about one-third of this game.
The Spartans tried several candidates, searching for their second- and third-best centers and other contingency options. Fincher had a ways to go in order to earn quality time trust. Duplain is the second-best center. From there, the question is whether Wigenton is ready for prime time if Duplain moves to center. In other words, would you rather have Wigenton on the field or Fincher. I’m projecting the former, when Michigan State goes to the bench.
5. The question arises, at which position on offense is Michigan State the strongest over the span of its top two players? The answer might be right tackle with the combination of Spencer Brown and Ethan Boyd.
Boyd is charging harder than any second-stringer on the offense, with a high ceiling of potential and a steep slope of improvement. Word is that he is ready to play right now.
Brown was functional-to-solid last year. He has needed to take his game up a level in order to hold of Boyd, and indications are that he has done that. But Boyd is going to get playing time, and this competition for the starting assignment will carry on into the season. It’s a healthy situation. Neither player is a standout or an All-Big Ten type of guy just yet, but it’s my pick for the best 1-2 on offense. Running back is a close second.
DEFENSE
Defensive End
1. Khris Bogle
2. Tunmise Adeleye
Defensive End
1. Zion Young
2. Brandon Wright
Nose Tackle
1. Jalen Sami
2. Derrick Harmon
Three Tech DT
1. Simeon Barrow
2. Maverick Hansen
Mike LB
1. Jacoby Windmon
2. Jordan Hall
Will LB
1. Cal Haladay
2. Aaron Brule
Nickel
1. Angelo Grose
2. Ade Willie
Cornerback
1. Charles Brantley
2. Caleb Coley
Cornerback
1. Dillon Tatum
2. Marqui Lowery
Strong Safety
1. Malik Spencer
2. Khalil Majeed
Free Safety
1. Jaden Mangham
2. Armorion Smith
Place Kicker
1. Jonathan Kim
2. Stephan Rusnak
Punter
1. Ryan Eckley
2. Michael O’Shaughnessy
Seven Quick Defensive Takes
1. Don’t be surprised if Sami gets the call over Harmon at nose tackle. I like Harmon a lot, but Sami has earned trust and gained respect. I expect Harmon to out-play Sami as the season progresses, but Sami might get the nod to open the game. I could be wrong.
2. Dillon Tatum began last year at safety. That’s the position he prefers and that’s probably his natural position. He spent time at safety at the end of training camp and he may end up inside at some point in his career, possibly at nickel.
But for now, they still need him at cornerback. Other guys were given a shot at corner, and some looked like they were ready to take it over, but Tatum is needed back there for now.
Don’t be surprised if Tatum gets time at safety at some point, possibly out of necessity. That’s all I’ll say about that.
3. I’m not sure about Brandon Wright being a second-stringer. That’s mostly a hunch. But he played like a starter the second-to-last time we saw him play, in the victory over Wisconsin way back in October. Has he impressed new defensive line coach Diron Reynolds? Reynolds seems impressed with all of his guys, and the depth up front. How impressed? You’ll know what I know. But don’t sleep on Wright.
4. What’s the best 1-2 on defense? I’ll go with Barrow and Hansen at defensive tackle. Or if Hansen starts ahead of Harmon, I would go with Barrow and Harmon. Basically, the answer is Barrow and whoever backs him up. Very good starter and a quality back-up.
5. I’m going with an educated guess on Ade Willie at nickel. It could very well be Chester Kimbrough. That’s going to be an interesting second-string assignment to watch. They need some versatile stability there.
If Michigan State goes with a 4-3, Brule becomes the third linebacker. Central Michigan does have some two-TE packages. But I think CMU will take this game outside of the phone booth for the most part, so I’m not anticipating a 4-3 from Michigan State.
6. I didn’t mention Justin White, but don’t count him out as a pest in the playing group, somewhere.
7. Ryan Eckley at punter? I’m basing that mostly on Mel Tucker’s comments during his radio show on Wednesday night. He mentioned that Eckley was placing the ball well. He didn’t mention Michael O’Shaughnessy. So I’ll go with that, although it might be a case of Tucker trying to give CMU reason to burn extra time scouting Eckley’s punt steps.
7. Ryan Eckley at punter? I’m basing that mostly on Mel Tucker’s comments during his radio show on Wednesday night. He mentioned that Eckley was placing the ball well. He didn’t mention Michael O’Shaughnessy. So I’ll go with that, although it might be a case of Tucker trying to give CMU reason to burn extra time scouting Eckley’s punt steps.
MICHIGAN STATE BETTER THAN LAST YEAR?
Let’s go position by position.
OFFENSE
QB: No.
For day one, I would go with Payton Thorne over Kim.
Kim may prove to be the better QB, and I suspect there is a very good chance he will prove it by Oct. 1. But on this day, Sept. 1, 2023, for this game, Thorne’s experience would give him the edge.
Kim has better arm talent and likely has better mobility and a higher ceiling. But Thorne is a proven commodity with a good number of victories on his resumé. That’s valuable in the college game.
RB: Yes.
I’m expecting Carter to be an upgrade over Berger. And I’m expecting Michigan State to be better in short yardage this year with Mangham.
WR-X: No.
Michigan State has talent here, but no Keon Coleman.
WR-Z: No
Michigan State has talent here, but no Jayden Reed.
Slot-WR: Yes.
Tre Mosley should be a tad better than a year ago.
TE: Yes.
Michigan State needs Maliq Carr to capitalize on his immense talent, prove that he can be a capable blocker, and give Michigan State the type of all-around skill and punch that the offense needs at the position.
I said Michigan State needs that to happen. Am I predicting it will happen? Pretty much. But Carr needs to be in prove-it mode right now. He’s a big key to the season, a key to the quarterback’s success, a key to moving the chains, a key to getting consistency in the ground game, a key to finishing in the red zone.
Michigan State had talent at TE last year in Daniel Barker, but it became harder to rely on his as the season went along. Michigan State needs more reliability and consistent blocking at the position. Badly.
LT: Yes.
Jarrett Horst had some talent and ability but was a loose cannon. Baldwin was functional as a back-up. Now Michigan State needs something beyond functional, and more steady than Horst.
I wouldn’t bet my Hobbit sticks on it, but give me Baldwin on a hunch. And if he can’t make it work, Michigan State needs Blackstock to tag in and do the job.
LG: Yes.
Duplain is back and taking names.
C: Yes.
Samac should be healthy, and ready to take names.
RG: Yes.
VanDeMark was solid as Matt Carrick’s reliever last year and should be able to build on that.
RT: Yes.
Spencer Brown is back and being pushed by Ethan Boyd. Both should be better than Brown was last year.
DEFENSE:
DE: Yes.
Zion Young was sturdy beyond his years last year. He’ll be sturdier now, and increasingly slippery on the pash rush. They need to mobilize the NIL coffers for him now. .
DE: Yes.
Khris Bogle, if healthy, will be better than Khris Bogle of a year ago. If not, Tunmise Adeleye is there as one of the most intriguing x-factors of the season.
NT: Not quite.
Derrick Harmon is good, and he is going to get better. Jalen Sami might prove to be pretty good. But I’m not going to put them in Jacob Slade’s class right now. I might change my mind by October.
DT: Yes.
Simeon Barrow was good last year, but played dinged up, and was forced to play too many snaps when available.
Barrow will be better than good this year, and fresher.
MLB: Yes.
Jacoby Windmon has unique size, smarts and mobility for Mike linebacker. Everyone knows he can go to the edge and rush the passer a little bit on third down. But I’m intrigued to see what kind of a pass rusher he can be as a Mike blitzer on first and second down.
Credit to Ben VanSumeren for making the Eagles practice squad. He showed good athleticism when pursuing to the flats at Michigan State, but really struggled between the tackles in run defense last year. Maybe the Michigan State system was too complicated or something. I don’t know. I’m still trying to process his NFL preseason success because I know what I saw last year, and it was substandard. Athletic, but substandard.
Windmon will be a major upgrade over what Michigan State had at Mike linebacker last year.
WLB: Yes.
Cal Haladay at a few pounds heavier, and fresher, will be better than the Haladay of last year.
Nickel: Yes.
Angelo Grose will be good against the run. Can Michigan State get quality pass defense from this position? Maybe not against all opponents, but enough to be better than last year.
Cornerback: Yes.
Charles Brantley is back as a starter. Expect improvement.
Cornerback: Yes.
Ameer Speed made the Patriots 53-man roster. Good for him. Seems like a good guy. But he struggled last year. He was big and fast, but he struggled to defeat blocks, leverage plays or provide quality coverage. He wasn’t as good as Ronald Williams was the year before, but he started ahead of Williams.
I’m still trying to process how Ameer Speed of 2022 was an NFL player. He was drafted on frame and athleticism. But he made the Patriots with grit and guile, two things he lacked in a Spartan uniform. Still processing.
The starting cornerback opposite Brantley this year, whoever new CBs coach Jim Salgado picks, will be better than Speed was in 2022. Whether it’s Lowery, Rucker or if things revert to Tatum, or possibly Caleb Coley or Terry Roberts. I expect an upgrade.
SS: Yes.
Give me Jaden Mangham over Grose and Kendell Brooks from a year ago. Brooks, playing in a pinch, was better than I anticipated. But I’ll bet on the rise with Mangham this year, by a small margin. (Grose began the season at strong safety, but moved to nickel at mid-season, and then fell to the second string).
FS: No and yes.
Malik Spencer is a star in the making, but isn’t better at this point than Xavier Henderson was when healthy. When Henderson wasn’t healthy, Brooks played free safety for five games. Is Spencer this year better than Brooks a year ago? By the end of the season, he will be.
PK: Yes.
Jonathan Kim doesn’t have to be great to be better than Ben Patton and Jack Stone from a year ago. I’m guessing he will be serviceable. That’s an improvement.
Punter: No.
Ryan Eckley might be decent, but Bryce Barringer was ridiculous.
If you’re keeping score, that’s a 17-5 edge for the yes’s over the no’s. 18-6 when counting special teams.
The individual talent is improving, and so is the depth. Now can the QB come through, can the tight ends block, and can the defense play on the same page? Those are questions I’ve been asking since spring practice, and we will begin getting answers in the opener against Central Michigan.
FIRST TAKE ON CENTRAL MICHIGAN
I went through the Central Michigan vs Penn State game from last September and I’m amazed that that CMU team ended up 4-8. They gave Penn State some serious work. CMU was in that game, deep into the third quarter.
CMU was 9-4 a year earlier and beat Washington State in the 2021 Sun Bowl. Chippewas head coach, Jim McElwain is good and crafty. I don’t know how the Chips nose-dived in MAC play, but McElwain wasn’t pleased.
“All of us were embarrassed,” McElwain said. “I think they’ve put in the work and we’ve got it turned around. We need to do better than we did a year ago, and we’re going to do that.”
THE MACRO ON CENTRAL MICHIGAN
1. CMU has a solid, pesky, capable defense. They are multiple up front, they don’t fool themselves, they have pretty good individual talent, a lot of experience and they create negative plays.
It is entirely conceivable that Michigan State with its new QB and new WRs could get bogged down for stretches in this game.
2. Can Michigan State pound the run, create balance, and make things easier for Kim and the new WRs? Michigan State will try. But CMU’s run defense held up pretty well against Penn State last year.
Penn State rushed for 166 yards against CMU, 5.2 per. Those might sound like good numbers, and they are – in a Big Ten game. You might expect PSU to gash CMU for more than 166 yards rushing, and PSU tried. But CMU was competitive for most of that game.
PSU ended up out-gaining Central Michigan just 403-363 in a 33-14 Penn State win. The game was 21-14 at halftime.
3. On offense, Central Michigan has two relatively new QBs, completely new wide receivers and tight ends, and they graduated one of the best RBs in school history.
Central Michigan has some of the elements to make this game competitive going into the fourth quarter, especially on defense, but the Chips probably lack the passing attack to really make this game dangerous.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CENTRAL MICHIGAN
1. Coach Jim McElwain was wide receivers coach for two years under John L. Smith. He left to become WRs coach for the Raiders.
Back around 2004 when Smith was in his second year, I wrote that McElwain was the best WRs coach I had ever seen at Michigan State. He was fast-repped and more detail-oriented than other WR coaches I had seen. And I would still put him at the top of the list, with current WRs coach Courtney Hawkins possibly capable of matching him, depending on how the new group of WRs develop over the next couple of years.
2. McElwain was offensive coordinator for Nick Saban at Alabama from 2008 to 2011, including the year Alabama demolished Michigan State in the 2011 Capital One Bowl.
McElwain then was head coach at Colorado State for three years. He went 4-8, 8-4 and 10-2 at CSU. He was named Mountain West Coach of the Year.
The following year, he was SEC Coach of the Year after going 10-4 at Florida in 2015.
He went 10-4, 9-4 and 3-4 and was fired midway through his third year. Apparently he said something about receiving death threats from fans which weren’t true. But Florida would love to have a 9-4 team right now.
McElwain has gone 8-6, 3-3, 9-4 and 4-8 at CMU. He was MAC Coach of the Year in 2021.
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker did not coach with McElwain at Alabama. But Tucker coached against him from 2015-18 when Tucker was DBs coach for Bama in ’15 and defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2017-18.
“He knows how to get the matchups,” Tucker said of McElwain. “Wherever you’re weak, he is going to have a plan to try to exploit that. You watch them against Penn State, they scored points and they got after those guys pretty good.”
3. Central Michigan has six wins against FBS Power Five opponents since 2009:
2009: Beat Michigan State
2012: Beat Iowa
2014: Beat Purdue
2016: Beat Oklahoma State
2017: Beat Kansas
2021: Beat Washington State
Two years ago, CMU lost at Missouri, 34-24, but had the Tigers on the run for much of that game.
Last year, CMU lost at Oklahoma State, 58-44.
WHAT ABOUT THAT PENN STATE GAME?
That was 11 months ago. Third game of the year for both teams. Why are we talking about that game?
Well, because it gives us a chance to see CMU on film against Big Ten bodies, a Top 10 team, a team that we as Michigan State observers are familiar with.
You can’t watch the first half of that CMU-Penn State game and tell me that CMU has no chance against Michigan State. They have a chance.
CMU went down in that game 14-0 and then outplayed PSU in the second quarter and for much of the third.
McElwain is a jovial, happy-go-lucky personality. During games, he’s is relaxed and seemingly unstressed.
Down 14-0, his team converted a fourth down, and went on to score a TD to cut it to 14-7.
Then CMU stopped Penn State on fourth down and drove for another TD to tie the game at 14-14 in the second quarter.
With 6 minutes left in the first half, the game was 14-14 and CMU was out-gaining Penn State 134-121.
Then CMU forced Penn State to punt on its next drive. So CMU regained possession, leading 14-14, out-gaining Penn State, with five minutes to go in the first half, and a lot of momentum.
Penn State got a stop, scored, and took a 21-14 lead into halftime.
But CMU forced a punt on Penn State’s opening drive of the second half, HOWEVER CMU fumbled the punt inside their own 10-yard line. PSU recovered and soon it was 27-14.
Central Michigan then drove and seemingly cut the lead to 27-21, but a TD was disallowed due to an illegal pick play. CMU eventually turned it over on downs and this one was over.
But PSU knew they had been in a scrap. And it’s not hard to envision Michigan State getting into a similar scrap in this game.
WHAT MAKES CENTRAL’S DEFENSE GOOD?
They don’t seem to have standout personnel. They just have a lot of grinders, and they hustle around in a lot of multiple looks and create some problems.
CMU ranked No. 3 in the nation in tackles for loss last year. And ranked No. 19 in third down defense and No. 31 in sacks.
In 2021, CMU was No. 1 in the nation in tackles for loss per game, No. 18 in the nation in rushing defense and No. 4 in sacks.
When watching CMU against Penn State, I didn’t see great edge rushers. But they have some battlers inside who keep you off-balance, partly with multiple fronts.
They will play an over 4-3 on one play and then go with an odd front (30) on the next play. They will one-gap you on one play, and then two-gap you on the next. And sometimes they will have some players two-gapping while the nose guard one-gaps and quickly swims into the backfield.
“Everyone has got good players and they are no different,” Tucker said. “We aren’t good enough to take anyone lightly; we never will be.”
CMU mixes up their fronts more than most teams you’ll see. That would be a bigger problems against an inexperienced offensive line, but Michigan State has some maturity up front. That will help, especially if Samac is able to play.
CMU is multiple in the secondary, too. Against Penn State, against five WRs, they brought a six man rush with a cover zero (no safeties) on two occasions in the first half.
Later, on third-and-long, CMU went with cover-two halves like Iowa.
I don’t think Mark Dantonio ran a zero blitz during his entire career at Michigan State. Maybe a few times when playing defense inside the 10-yard line, but not in conventional situations.
CMU’S DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
Central Michigan is so peculiar, and effective, on defense that I had to look up their defensive coordinator.
His name is Robb Akey. The 57-year old Akey is in his 34th year of coaching. He’s a Rocky Mountain guy like McElwain. Akey is from Colorado. McElwain is from Montana.
Akey is one of those humorous, hyper-active, mountain zone football guys, like John L. Smith. (Current Michigan State assistant Ross Els is similar).
These guys coach football like they’re bull riders.
Akey is pretty good.
He coached defensive line for McElwain at Florida in 2017. Prior to that, he was a d-line coach in the NFL for three years.
Prior to that, he was head coach at Idaho for six years, going 1-11, 2-10, 8-5, 6-7, 2-10, 1-7.
Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at Washington State from 1999-2002.
Akey (pronounced ACK-ee) has been at CMU since 2019. He has his guys. He has his system. They’re going to have their crap together. And he has nine returning starters. I don’t think I see any NFL players on the unit, but they scurry around and play pretty well together.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN DEFENSIVE PERSONNEL
I’m not going to go over everyone on the defense. And I have way more notes on the defensive personnel than the CMU offense, mainly because the defense is more interesting and has a better chance to cause problems.
But this is what I’ve seen:
DEFENSIVE LINE
71 DT ROBI STUART (6-3, 300, Sr., Saginaw Nouvel)
He’s kind of a Maverick Hansen type, but a little shorter and thicker.
35 career starts.
This is his SEVENTH season at CMU. You read that right. He’ll turn 25 in October.
I’m not sure how he is eligible this year. He played six games in 2017, 12 in 2018, was third-team All-MAC in 2019, then 2020 didn’t count but he was honorable mention All-MAC, then in 2021 he missed the season due to injury, then he was fourth-team All-MAC last year.
That’s six seasons. I don’t get it. But he’s there, and he’s solid.
He was an Eagle Scout. He is five-time Academic All-MAC. He graduated in CMU’s pre-med program and is pursuing his graduate degree in neuroscience/pre-med.
The guy is a story.
He has nine career sacks.
He’s not great, but he’s good. He’s roly-poly tough.
He was a two-star recruit, and a Detroit Free Press all-stater.
10 DT JACQUES BRISTOL (6-1, 295, Sarasota Booker)
He was All-MAC last year. He has 20 TFLs and nine sacks for his career.
When he plays nose guard, he is one of those guys that will put a quick swim move on you as a one-gapper and make quick penetrations into the backfield.
97 DE MICHAEL HELDMAN (6-4, 260, R-Soph., Romeo, Mich.)
+ He has good size for a d-end at the MAC level. He is an Avery Dunn type, plus 10 pounds.
Pretty good quickness and agility on stunts and when trying to run the hoop.
He had 7.5 TFLs and two sacks last year.
He started 11 games as a redshirt freshman last year.
He was a three-star recruit, ranked No. 38 in on The Detroit News Blue Chip List.
He is sturdy enough to defend the C-gap area pretty well, yet has some flexibility to transition to the pass rush. Not great, but he’s headed toward good. Kind of like Dunn.
There are three or four other defensive linemen in the mix who don’t look out of place at all. Solid pluggers.
Overall, this defense is probably about like a Purdue, Northwestern or Indiana defense. Maybe not a lot of standouts, but they wouldn’t look out of place in the bottom third of the Big Ten, which is where Michigan State was last year.
LINEBACKER
22 ILB KYLE MORETTI (6-2, 245, Jr., Arvada, Colo.)
* He had 94 tackles last year.
* Third-team All-MAC.
He’s kind of a Cal Haladay type. Quick feet in the shuffle stack, with some of Cal’s toughness. Cal doesn’t have great sideline-to-sideline speed but I think Cal is a half step faster than Moretti.
Moretti is good at sidestepping through the wash, staying alive, shedding blocks, and getting to the action and arrive with a hard thud. He’s a short strider who has a knack of getting there. I would say he’s a tad better than a healthy Ma’a Gaoteote. Ma’a is probably a half step faster, sideline to sideline.
He had an offer from Air Force.
ILB 45 JUSTIN WHITESIDE (6-0, 220, 5-Jr., Flossmoor, Ill.)
* 15 career starts.
* Good run-around athlete who doesn’t seem to take false steps and is a good sidekick to Moretti.
+ He had a good sack against Penn State, coming in hard off the edge, then retracing his steps and laying out to grab QB Clifford on a third-and-long late in the 1Q. Looked like a player.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
* They’ll play off man, they’ll play zone, they’ll play press, they’ll play zero coverage with blitzes. They have a lot of volume, but they don’t blow their speakers.
4 CB DONTE KENT (5-11, 190, Jr., Harrisburg, Pa.)
* 25 career starts.
* First-team All-MAC.
* Was No. 9 nationally in passes defensed last year with 15.
* Had two pass break-ups against Penn State.
+ Good job in off coverage, smoothly turning his hips and running with Penn State WR Harrison Wallace, staying in phase with no problem on a deep route.
+ Good job in off man-to-man on a deep post against Penn State WR Omari Eans, covered it well.
3 S TREY JONES (6-2, 215, Jr., Wetumpka, Ala.).
* 12 career starts.
* He was fourth-team All-MAC last year.
* Nothing spectacular but he has size and gets in the way.
S 29 JAYDEN DAVIS (6-0, 205, JR., Oakland, Calif.)
* Junior college transfer from Contra Costa JC.
* 8 career starts.
* He was a mediocre open field tackler against Penn State.
S 5 De’JAVION STEPNEY (6-0, 190, R-Soph., Macomb Dakota)
* 10 career starts.
* Played some RB last year out of necessity due to injuries.
* Was first-team all-state as a RB, No. 26 on The Detroit News Blue Chip list.
* He was a three-star in the On3 Industry Rankings.
* He hasn’t quite hit his stride as a DB but probably has a high ceiling.
OFFENSIVE STYLE & NOTABLES
Their QB last year was somewhat effective but had bad mechanics. He kind of lost his job at the end of the year and transferred to FAU.
Two holdovers have competed for the starting job. If CMU named a starter, I didn’t hear about it.
The two holdover QBs – Jase Bauer and Bert Emanuel – are runners first and passers second. They are good runners.
CMU on offense at times is kind of like a mix of Minnesota and Michigan State. They were pretty conventional with last year’s QB.
But when Bauer began getting more playing time at QB, Central Michigan became more of a read option team, with a pair of pulling tight ends.
As for route combinations, regardless of who is the QB, they love to connect with the shallow crossing routes, against man or zone.
CMU makes good use of switch releases, getting your DBs on their heels and breaking off crafty, quirky little sudden movements to get open. That’s McElwain. He can also make use of a short motion to fool with your eyes and spring someone down the sideline on a wheel. He’ll scheme up some open receivers. MSU’s DBs will get a good quiz. The good news for Michigan State fans is that CMU’s QBs and WRs are unproven, and likely kind of suspect.
THE QUARTERBACKS
3 QB BERT EMANUEL (6-3, 220, R-Fr., Houston)
This guy might be the wildcard of the game. If he proves capable of doing anything through the air, watchout – because his ground game is darn good.
Emanuel played only four games last year and preserved redshirt status.
He had some of the strangest stats you’ll see in a short season.
He attempted only eight passes on the year, completing four of them for 54 yards.
Emanuel started the final game of the 2022 season (against Eastern Michigan) and led CMU in rushing in each of the last three games. He led CMU in yards per carry on the year at 7.4.
He averaged 124 yards RUSHING per game. You read that right. This is a QB.
He had three runs of 60 yards or more (87, 75 and 60) in four games played.
Against EMU, he was 0-for-2 through the air but had TD runs of 1, 35 and 1 yard. He rushed 16 times for 75 yards in that game.
He rushed for 98 yards on 21 carries in a snow game against Western Michigan.
He rushed for 293 yards against Buffalo, including TD runs of 75, 87 and 1 yard.
Emanuel, the son of former NFL wide receiver Bert Emanuel Sr., runs with speed, some power and keen ability to make reads on CMU’s counter read option.
Against Buffalo, he did damage on QB sweeps, the occasional pocket scramble, and a ton of those counter read options will a pair of pulling tight ends or pulling backside guards and tackles. Buffalo looked like they had no idea that stuff was coming, but the other QB, Bauer, had run some of those plays earlier in the year.
He was the No. 83 QB in the nation and No. 206 overall in Texas by the On3 Industry Rankings.
16 QB JASE BAUER (6-3, 220, R-Soph., Ankeny, Iowa)
He accelerates quickly, like a thicker Brian Lewerke, but doesn’t throw it nearly as well as Lewerke – at least that was the case last year.
He played in six games last year. He threw one TD pass and five INTs.
He completed 59 percent of his passes for 435 yards.
He rushed for 312 yards on 53 carries.
Bauer was 18 of 25 against Bowling Green. I saw most of the cut-ups in that game. He was Charlie Checkdown against the Falcons, throwing short, throwing short. But he connected on one or two prayers along the sideline.
He was a three-star recruit, ranked the No. 86 QB by ESPN.
RECEIVERS AND RUNNING BACKS
They have all new receivers. There isn’t much point in going over them here.
At running back, CMU has to replace Lew Nichols, who led the nation in rushing in 2021, but was held to 616 yards last year while playing in only nine games.
CMU has a 323-yard rusher returning in Marion Lukes (6.6 per carry) and Myles Bailey, who rushed for 176 yards last year (5.5 per).
Lukes (5-9, 200, Jr., Charlestown, Ind.) was a two-star recruit, ranked No. 40 in Indiana by ESPN.
Bailey (5-10, 225, Jr., North Brunswick, NJ) was a three-star recruit by ESPN, ranked No. 44 in New Jersey.
CMU added transfer BJ Harris (5-9, 205, Jr., Chattanooga, Tenn.) from Missouri. He rushed for 32 yards and 1 TD in two seasons at Missouri.
KICKING GAME
They were terrible last year, hitting less than 50 percent of their field goals. Their punter and kicker are gone. They have a couple of transfers taking their place, including a kicker from Arkansas State.
They have two or three players on their roster who have blocked kicks.
ADD IT ALL UP
Central Michigan isn’t likely to do a lot of consistent damage through the air. They are going to have to do it on the ground, and it likely won’t be with tailbacks – it will be with the read option and QB keepers.
Michigan State has the defensive strength in the front seven to stack up Central Michigan’s interior tailback runs. It’ll come down to Michigan State’s ability to play assignment football in stopping Central Michigan’s read option.
When facing an explosive running QB in an unconventional form of pistol option, things can get dicey. Michigan State has an edge in size and athleticism in the defensive trenches. Michigan State should have the ability to defeat blocks and create logjams up front, but they’ll get tested in the art of defending the option. Windmon and Halladay should be assets in that regard, and Michigan State should be able to defeat blocks on the edge with strong defensive ends.
A well-conceived option with a dynamic running QB can go a long way toward neutralizing a defense’s physical edges, if the defense doesn’t have its assignments down. Tucker says this game will be a dogfight. His players need to believe him, and the coaching concepts need to be crisp.
On offense, Michigan State needs balance and efficiency and occasional explosiveness from presumed starter Kim. The potential performance range for Kim and his receivers probably scales from shaky to excellent. We have no idea what they will look like. On one hand, there is optimism for new blood. On the other hand, most of these Michigan State skill players on offense are unproven.
Central Michigan was a quality team two years ago and could have the pieces to be good again this year. If Michigan State withstands that challenge and establishes a level of dominance in this game, that could bode well for the remainder of the season. If things go well for Michigan State in this game, don’t discount the accomplishment.
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