What to Watch For: Michigan State vs. CMU

East Lansing, Mich. – The Michigan State football team will begin its 2023 Midwest Tour at 7 p.m. on Saturday night when it welcomes Central Michigan to Spartan Stadium for its season opener.

Michigan State enters the year determined to bounce back from a disappointing 5-7 season, which included injuries, poor execution, questionable coaching decisions, and an embarrassing postgame game tunnel brawl at Michigan that led to depleted depth. In so doing, the Spartans are looking to repeat the success of their 2021 tour, which saw them finish 11-2, much to the delight of the Michigan State fanbase.

The only question now is what this season’s tour will be called as Michigan State starts a four-game concert series of home tour dates that will include CMU, Richmond, Washington and a Homecoming matchup with Maryland to open the Big Ten season on Sept 23rd.

Will it be The Retribution Tour, The Redemption Tour, The Revenge Tour or maybe even The Healing Tour to signify the program’s desire to fix the pain and woes of last season?

No matter what it’s called, Michigan State is in need of a strong start to the 2023 season, and beating a CMU team, which also had its troubles last season, finishing just 4-8, will be a good way to start.

That doesn’t mean the opener will be easy for the Spartans, which hold an 8-3 all-time series lead. Michigan State has won four straight against CMU, including a 31-20 win the last time these two teams played in 2018. Michigan State has, however, had some trouble with CMU in the past, with unexpected losses in 1991, 1992, and most recently in 2009.

“Yeah, I would be lying if I said, we didn’t hear that,” senior receiver Tre Mosley said. “We hear everything good and everything bad, but you can’t let that determine who you are as a team and as an individual. You have to never get too high with the highs and never get to low with the lows. You can keep that in your mind but our job is to go out there and perform to the best of our abilities, no matter what anyone is saying and we can’t let that distract us or we can’t really be worried about that. If we go out there and handle our business on the field, we have nothing to worry about from the media or anyone (else) who’s doubting us and our capabilities as a team.’’

CMU on Offense

As the Spartans open the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Spartan Stadium on Friday, they will be facing a Central Michigan team looking for some retribution and redemption of its own.

It’s a matchup, despite Central’s record last season that Spartan head coach Mel Tucker has proclaimed will be “a dogfight.”

The Chippewas, who scratched out wins against FCS-foe Bucknell, and MAC opponents Akron, Northern Illinois and Buffalo, surrendered nearly 30 points a game last season, while putting up a little under 25 a game in 2022.

This season, CMU will be looking to increase the potency of the offense behind the talents of either redshirt sophomore Jase Bauer, who finished last season with 435 passing yards and one touchdown against five interceptions, or redshirt freshman Bert Emanuel, who led the team in rushing in 2022 with 496 yards and seven scores.

“I think No. 3 (Emanuel) likes to run a little bit more and then No. 8 Bauer), he’s a little more of a thrower than the other guy so I think they’re both good athletes and they both have their challenges to stop,’’ MSU redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay said.

Juniors Marion Lukes and Myles Bailey are expected to split carries out of the backfield, while junior Jalen McGaughy is CMU’s top returning pass catcher.

Lukes and Bailey will be replacing the production of Lew Nichols III, who led the nation in FBS rushing in 2021. Nichols saw his production drop off sharply, however, last season. He averaged just 3.5 yards per carry and totaled just over 600 yards on the ground.

Last year, Lukes rushed for 323 yards and three TDs on 51carries, while catching five passes for 81 yards and a score. In seven games last year, Bailey added 176 yards on 32 carries, while contributing nine receptions for 83 yards and a TD.

McGaughy caught 20 balls for 313 yards and two trips to the endzone.

The Chips offensive line is led by third team All-MAC guard and senior Deiyantei Powell-Woods, redshirt sophomore left tackle Davis Heinzen and junior right tackle Brayden Swartout.

Michigan State on Defense

Expectations are high for the Michigan State defense. The Spartans have depth and talent throughout the front seven.

At linebacker, Michigan State returns a trio of productive veterans in Haladay, Jacoby Windmon, and Aaron Brule. Haladay led the Spartans with 120 tackles, including 11 for loss. Windmon led the team in sacks (5.5) and ranked second in tackles for loss (10.5) despite missing the final month of the season due to suspension. Windmon also ranked first in the nation with six forced fumbles. Brule totaled 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks in 322 snaps.

The Michigan State defensive line is lead by a quartet of defensive tackles in Simeon Barrow, Derrick Harmon, Jalen Sami, and Maverick Hansen. Zion Young, Khris Bogle, Brandon Wright, and Avery Dunn return at defensive end for the Spartans, who also added size to control the C-gap with the acquisition of Texas A&M transfer Tunmise Adeleye. Barrow led the interior d-line in sacks (4.0) and 9.5 tackles for loss. Hansen led the interior d-line in tackles last season.

The Spartans are young in the defensive backfield with two sophomores starting at safety in Malik Spencer and Jaden Mangham. Senior nickel back Angelo Grose and junior cornerback Charles Brantley have played a lot of games between them.

Brantley is a likely starter for the Spartans at one of the corner spots. The other starting job is up for grabs. Dillon Tatum, a converted safety, entered training camp as the leading candidate for a starting job opposite Brantley.

Grose finished fifth on the team in tackles, while Brantley led the backend in in pass breakups with six.

The Spartans will also be looking for a serviceable punter to replace All-American and present New England Patriot Bryce Baringer. That should go to either redshirt freshman Ryan Eckley or Ohio State grad transfer Michael O’Shaughnessy.

Michigan State on Offense

While Michigan State’s defense looks solid, the Spartan offense enters the season several question marks.

Who will be the starting quarterback?

Who will be the starting running back?

Who will be the top three wide receiver targets?

At QB, expect either redshirt junior Noah Kim or redshirt freshman Katin Houser to take the reins the Michigan State offense. Kim, who has only four games of experience under his belt, was the leader in the quarterback competition coming into training camp. Houser, a strong-armed redshirt freshman, has closed the gap considerably in the last month.

“I feel like it’s time. Guys are ready to play. We’re prepared to have a great year,’’ said MSU wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins. “I really feel like we’re going to put the best 11 out there (on offense) and whoever (is) underneath center, we’re going to win the game.’’

In the backfield, redshirt sophomore transfer Nathan Carter, who joined Michigan State from UConn, appears to be the top contender for a starting job. He is joined by graduate transfer from Jaren Mangham from South Florida and returning redshirt junior Jalen Berger, a second-year transfer who began his career at Wisconsin. Berger, who played in all 12 games last season, returns as the team’s top rusher after putting up 683 yards and six TDs on 148 carries in 2022.

Despite losing Jayden Reed to the NFL and Keon Coleman to the transfer portal and Florida State, Hawkins has proclaimed this to be the deepest pool of talent he has had during his four years in East Lansing.

Montorie Foster Jr. and Mosley lead the way at wide receiver. Limited by an injury in 2022, Foster had just seven catches and 98 yards and one score. Mosley compiled 35 receptions, 359 yards and four TDs in 12 games last season.

After those two, look for names like redshirt junior Christian Fitzpatrick, sophomore Tyrell Henry, redshirt freshmen Jaron Glover and Antonio Gates Jr., and even Nebraska transfer and senior Alante Brown to be in the mix for opportunities in the passing game.

Maliq Carr (6-6, 272) headlines a crowded tight end room that includes several transfers. The pressure is on for Carr to contribute as a run-blocker and provide Michigan State with a much-needed complete player at the tight end position. Evan Morris and Wisconsin transfer Jaylan Franklin will also likely see the field at tight end against CMU.

The o-line is led by senior left guard J.D. Duplain, senior center Nick Samac, and senior right tackle Spencer Brown. Junior left tackle Brandon Baldwin and sophomore guard Geno VanDeMark return as part-time starters in 2022. VanDeMark took reps at center during training camp as a stand in for Samac, who missed time with a minor injury. Tackles Ethan Boyd and junior college standout Keshawn Blackstock are among the offensive linemen in the mix for game reps.

CMU on Defense

While there are many questions unanswered for Michigan State on offense, CMU has some questions to answer as well on defense, after giving up 416.5 yards per game in 2022.

Junior linebacker Kyle Moretti leads the way after registering 95 tackle and 7.5 TFL’s in 2022. Moretti will be backed up by the Chippewas’ second leading tackler, junior strong safety Trey Jones, who finished last season with 85 stops, 6.5 stops for loss, and two picks. Junior Donte Kent, a first-team All-MAC corner, tied Jones for the team lead in interceptions, and led CMU with 15 pass break-ups.

Central Michigan will be hard pressed to replace the production of former linebacker Thomas Incoom and defensive lineman John Wesley Whiteside. Incoom led his team with 11.5 sacks last season, while Wesley Whiteside added eight TFLs.

As a team, the Chippewas had 55 PBUs and 99 TFLs in 2022, but just a -1.50 turnover margin.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

MICHIGAN STATE: Pay close attention to the Spartan defense, which will need to spearhead the team’s success until the offense, which is featuring a host of new players, who are going to be thrust into more significant roles this season, gets up to speed. With changes at quarterback, running back and wide receiver, Michigan State’s defense needs to set the tone, and buy a fledgling offense time to develop. The running game will be of particular importance in this game. With a veteran interior offensive line, the Spartans need to establish a ground game that can run the ball on their own terms.

CMU: Make no mistake about it, fifth-year head coach Jim McElwain wants to run the ball and run the ball effectively. Last season, the Chippewas were fourth in the MAC in rushing yards per game at 160.4. CMU also scored 22 TDs on the ground last season, which was tied for fifth in their conference. That means if they can stay in that statistical area, the Chippewas will have a strong shot at beating Michigan State for just the fourth time in the series. Passing was not a strong suit for CMU, which ranked ninth in the MAC in that category with just 16 scores.

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