8 Winners, 4 Losers as Michigan State Football Takes Down Eastern Michigan

Michigan State football took on the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday in the final game before a gauntlet of Notre Dame and the Big Ten awaited. The Spartans started slow, with 14 points at half, but pulled away with a defensive shutout and 21 points in the second half alone.

Although the effort was a resounding win, Pat Fitzgerald lamented the second quarter for the Spartans, where a long Eastern Michigan drive brought the Eagles within six. The Spartans stalled out their two minute drill, putting things closer than the team wanted.

The win saw lots of Spartans get to make plays, especially with key linebacker Jordan Hall and rotational receiver KK Smith out.

Here are some winners and losers from Saturday’s contest.

Winners

RB Cam Edwards

Edwards had a slow first half, with nine rushes for 38 yards at halftime. In the second half, however, the back proved his workhorse mentality behind the Spartan line.

The line created holes and Edwards finished with 152 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Edwards is already north of 50 touches on the season through two games, however.

WR Charles Taplin

With KK Smith out, the void at receiver in the rotation got filled by Charles Taplin. Taplin responded by stepping up with a 65-yard day, including his first career touchdown in the third quarter.

Taplin is a speedster that has drawn praise since his first career practice as a Spartan, and got his moment on Saturday. The Texas native provides another threat for Notre Dame to consider. Last week, Taplin had zero snaps. This week, the receiver stepped up for his biggest and best game yet.

TE Jayden Savoury

Savoury, yet again, created spacing and became a nightmare mismatch against the Eagles. The athletic tight end got involved in the second half, with four catches for 63 yards, including a career-long 49-yarder where he was less than 10 yards from his first career touchdown.

Savoury was by far the most dynamic tight end on the field, and seemed to solidify his spot as a co-starter with Brennan Parachek.

QB Cam Fancher

Fancher saw extensive snaps in his package and mop up duty on the day, and the backup quarterback proved the staff’s faith to grab him in the portal was well-placed. The veteran quarterback made smart reads and drove the offense from the 30-yard line to the goal line, where Cam Edwards took a direct snap and punched the ball in.

Fancher gives the defense different looks as a lefty and will make Notre Dame plan for his package in the future.

IDL Eli Coenen

Coenen was the best defensive player on the field against the Eagles. The Illinois transfer totaled two sacks, crushing the pocket on Noah Kim and forcing the quarterback to be uncomfortable the entire second half.

Coenen already sits at three sacks this season, after the 2025 team leaders had 2.5 sacks in 12 games. That is creating a difference early, and the same things the Spartans could not do in their “buy games” last year.

WR Fredrick Moore

Moore struggled in his snaps against Toledo, with the receiver being more of a decoy than an active force as pass catcher. That was not the case today, as Moore had a heads up play where he noticed a blitz and instantly looked for quarterback Alessio Milivojevic on a seam route.

Milivojevic through a perfect ball, and Moore got his first touchdown as a Spartan. The former Wolverine should have had his second later in the half, too, as he blew by coverage with no one within five yards of him at one point.

LB Brady Pretzlaff

With no Jordan Hall today, Brady Pretzlaff stepped up as the “green dot,” the defensive communicator for the Spartans. He finished with a team-high 8 tackles and was part of the stout defensive shutout in the second half.

WR Braylon Collier

Collier got his first career offensive snaps in mop-up duty with the game out of hand late, and the second-year player was the go-to target for Cam Fancher. The receiver took his first offensive snap for a 17-yard gain, and later got another first down on a screen pass that was whistled for a hold.

Losers

OT Rakeem Johnson

The first drive of the game was brutal for the Spartans, and the offensive line’s struggles were part of it. Johnson was part of the group that allowed a third down pressure and incompletion on the drive.

Against an Eastern Michigan team that had two sacks in their previous two games, that is not a sign Spartan fans want to see heading into Notre Dame.

OT Robert Wright Jr.

Wright was another player that let up a pressure and sack, and the tackle room did not have a memorable first half.

While the second half was much-improved, the Spartans did not inspire confidence with their first half against a much lower rated opponent.

WR Samson Gash

Yes, this might be nitpicky. When a receiver gets called upon for his first career snaps, the last thing they want to see is a penalty. Samson Gash, a four-star speedster, got to make his debut on Saturday on the final drive of the game.

Gash was whistled for a penalty on a bubble screen to Collier in a call that was clear. To be fair to Gash, a lot of other Spartans have started their career falling in the negative category before turning things around fast, namely Alessio Milivojevic.

WR Bryson Williams

Another Spartan vying for snaps in a wide open room, Williams had a drop on a simple play in the second quarter. The Spartans were driving to add momentum to their side heading into halftime, and only needed a few short yards to get to field goal range.

Williams saw a pass slip through his fingers, and the drive was one that Pat Fitzgerald lamented in his remarks at halftime.

What is Next for Michigan State Football?

The Spartans regroup before their first road test of the season, a Saturday night prime time contest against Notre Dame.