The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Michigan State Football’s Win Over Toledo

After 279 days, Michigan State football finally got back in action under the lights. The Spartans saw tons of change in those nearly 40 weeks, with Pat Fitzgerald now at the helm and only three assistants remaining with the program, along with north of 50 players being new to the Spartan program.

The Spartans got their season opening test against a close, but unfamiliar opponent, the Toledo Rockets. Michigan State football had only played them once in their history prior to Friday night, a 58-0 win in East Lansing over 100 years ago. The Rockets faced plenty of their own challenges, also with a new head coach and over 50 new players taking their first game action for Toledo in a hostile environment.

In the end, the Spartans emerged victorious over their Mid-American Conference opponent, as was expected, but the Rockets taking a late lead in the fourth quarter offers plenty of concern for MSU.

What was the good, the bad, and the ugly of the dawn of the Pat Fitzgerald era at MSU?

The Good

Michigan State Football had an Identity

During the Jonathan Smith tenure, the Spartans struggled to answer the question of what their identity was. One week, a strong kicking game saw a kicker miss a routine sub-30-yard field goal. The run game went from clicking to non-existent. There was never consistency or the need to establish a motto.

On Friday, the Spartans did just that. They went heavy on the ground-and-pound as lead back Cam Edwards had 98 yards on 27 carries, alongside Marvis Parrish and Jaziun Patterson combining for 51 yards on their 13 carries.

While the efficiency running the ball was not ideal (more on that later) the baseline establishment of 40 carries by MSU running backs led to the Spartans holding the ball for over 43 minutes of game time, disrupting Toledo by keeping their offense on the sidelines.

Defense Held Together For the Most Part

The few times Toledo got the ball, it was a struggle for the Rockets to move the ball. Outside of two bad reps (again, more on that later), the Spartans contained Toledo. 48% of their offensive productivity came on two plays. The Rockets only had one true drive against the Spartans, and it was aided by a 31-yard play where Chuck Brantley blew his coverage.

The Spartans held Toledo to only nine first downs all game. It was the formula for a dominating victory that was somehow only a 10-point win.

The Kicking Game

Entering the season, the kicking game, led by Charlotte transfer Liam Boyd, was a major question. After week one, those questions can be put to rest. Boyd hit 5 of his 6 field goal attempts, with his sole miss being a block from 54 yards.

Boyd set or tied his career-long field goal three separate times during the game, with his 51-yarder being the new high water mark. His 15 points on field goals and two extra points accounted for over half of Michigan State football’s scoring output on the night.

The Bad

Corner Play was Mixed

The cornerback play against Toledo was not great at points. Although there was the high of Tyran Chappell batting the ball away on fourth down to seal the game, along with a Tre Bell pass breakup, the Spartans had multiple blown coverages, primarily with Chuck Brantley and Michael Richard in the secondary.

Brantley bit hard on a double-move to give Toledo a free 60-yard touchdown, compounding matters with his tackling form keeping the receiver in bounds instead of pushing Adjatay Dabbs out of bounds to give the defense a redzone chance. He had a blown coverage on a 31-yard strike on Toledo’s third touchdown drive, which was a go-ahead.

Richard had his own pairs of gaffes, multiple of which resulted in easy first downs.

The only reason this quantifies as “bad” over “ugly” is 1.) the sheer number of ugly things I witnessed) and 2.) it is week one with the entire corner two deep not with defensive coordinator Joe Rossi in 2025 and it’s an expected, albeit disappointing week one mistake.

Pass Rush was not Ideal

The Spartans struggled to more much pass rush on Toledo. Although they had hurries, with two sacks and one intentional grounding, the Spartans did not look like a premier pass rush team. While Rossi’s scheme is not designed to pressure the passer overly much, large chunks of the Spartan defensive line were not shown much, if at all, in pass rush.

Anelu Lafaele, Isaac Smith, Derrick Simmons, and Ben Roberts, all expected to be major players in 2026, did not produce much in the season opener. The stars of the Spartans defensive line room were the unlikely trio of Kenny Soares Jr., Eli Coenen, and Mikeshun Beeler.

Beeler had multiple disruptions, while Soares added in a few pressures and an interception. Coenen was a game-wrecker, with multiple hurries, a sack, and a pass break up.

However, the defensive line failed to do enough to earn a passing grade against a MAC team.

The Ugly

Injuries

Death, taxes, early season injuries to Michigan State football. During the game on Friday, at points it felt easier to list which Spartans played and stayed healthy. At points, Chrishon McCray, Ben Murawski, Cam Edwards, Marvis Parrish, Ben Roberts, Jordan Hall, Conner Moore, and Nick Sharpe all showed signs of injury. Additionally, tackle Robert Wright Jr. had his own moment of projectile vomiting on a defender during the two-point conversion.

While it was extraordinarily humid out with high temperatures, that does not excuse the Spartans from improper hydration. Thankfully, Pat Fitzgerald sounded optimistic about the long-term health prospects of his players in his post-game press conference.

Offensive Line Play

The offensive line play was not great on Friday night. The Spartans ran the ball 40 times with their top three backs and got less than 150 yards, or well under 4 yards per carry against a MAC school. In fairness to the Spartans, the Rockets stacked the box and the run game was never the same after Murawski went down injured.

However, at the end of the day, the box score shows the Spartans did not meet an expected standard in the run game. This comes with Cam Edwards in the backfield, who was averaging north of 7 yards per carry against MAC teams during his time with UConn.

On the pass front, things were not much better. Rakeem Johnson and Conner Moore each had their own holding penalty, alongside the line letting up multiple sacks and quarterback hits.

Stats like this concern me: during Michigan State football’s two-minute drill, the Spartans allowed three quarterback hits in a row to Toledo. Although Milivojevic had strikes on all three throws, that is not a sustainable pattern for the Notre Dame game or Big Ten play.

Wide Receiver Separation

The struggles in pass block, in part, came from Michigan State football’s inability to create separation during stretches of the game. The third wide receiver spot behind Rod Bullard Jr. and Chrishon McCray combined for four catches for 35 yards all game.

McCray was mostly an out route machine, with a few mid-range shots thrown in. Bullard led the team with 7 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, but four of those catches were on the same drive. The impact needed, particularly against a MAC team, was not at the level expected.

Milivojevic was efficient uncorking the ball, but his own receiver’s lack of separation led to multiple hard hits to his players, along with a few extra hits on the quarterback himself, and a few throws that would be picks against higher competition. The current pass game in East Lansing is not sustainable for success.