{"id":6431,"date":"2023-09-04T14:10:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/?p=6431"},"modified":"2023-09-04T14:13:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:13:50","slug":"michigan-state-football-how-did-former-spartans-fare-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/?p=6431","title":{"rendered":"Michigan State football: How did former Spartans fare in Week 1?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Former Michigan State football players had a big opening week around the nation. How did the Spartan transfers fare?<\/h2>\n<p>The opening weekend of college football was a breath of fresh air. <a href=\"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/michigan-state-football-4-players-id-like-to-see-more-of-going-forward\/\">Michigan State football<\/a> fans were relieved to see their team back on the field, picking up a 31-7 win over Central Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>But they also got to witness some former players dominating at their new schools.<\/p>\n<p>The transfer portal is a big part of college football these days and Michigan State is no stranger to its existence. In fact, Mel Tucker has utilized the portal for his benefit but he&#8217;s also lost some gems to it. And some of them looked like superstars in Week 1.<\/p>\n<p>How did former Michigan State football players fare in Week 1?<\/p>\n<h3>Keon Coleman, WR, Florida State<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Not a bad first game for Keon Coleman \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QZlJjEV7T3\">pic.twitter.com\/QZlJjEV7T3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; dcharts (@xdcharts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/xdcharts\/status\/1698595875671724159?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 4, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Keon Coleman had the best game of any former Michigan State player this weekend, catching three touchdown passes on nine receptions for 122 yards. He&#8217;s a star.<\/p>\n<h3>Payton Thorne, QB, Auburn<\/h3>\n<p>Payton Thorne had a modest debut in a blowout of UMass over the weekend, completing 10-of-17 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n<h3>Germie Bernard, WR, Washington<\/h3>\n<p>Another unexpected transfer this past offseason, Germie Bernard looked like a solid contributor on his new team. He caught three passes for 47 yards from Michael Penix Jr. in a blowout win over Boise State.<\/p>\n<h3>Rocky Lombardi, QB, Northern Illinois<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, Rocky Lombardi is still in college and yes, he&#8217;s still winning games. He led Northern Illinois to an upset win at Boston College in Week 1, passing for 165 yards and adding a rushing touchdown.<\/p>\n<h3>Ricky White, WR, UNLV<\/h3>\n<p>The hero from the 2020 Michigan game had a modest opener for UNLV, catching two passes for five yards.<\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0Julian Barnett, CB, Memphis<\/h3>\n<p>The former prized Michigan State football recruit from Belleville is in his fifth season and he had a pass deflection and no tackles for the Tigers in the opener.<\/p>\n<h3>Jeslord Boateng, LB, Louisiana Tech<\/h3>\n<p>Talk about a blast from the past, Jeslord Boateng is a name that you probably haven&#8217;t heard in a while. The Louisiana Tech linebacker had six total tackles in the opener against FIU.<\/p>\n<h3>Antoine Booth, CB, James Madison<\/h3>\n<p>Another defensive back recruit that parted ways during the Mel Tucker era, Antoine Booth went to James Madison. He recorded three tackles in the opener against Bucknell.<\/p>\n<h3>Jack Bouwmeester, P, Utah<\/h3>\n<p>Although he never played a game with Michigan State, he&#8217;s still a former Spartan. He had a strong start to the season for the Utes, punting six times with an average of 51.8 and a long of 64 yards. He also had three punts downed inside the 20.<\/p>\n<h3>Chase Carter, DE, Incarnate Word<\/h3>\n<p>While he wasn&#8217;t the most productive player on the field in the season opener, Chase Carter recorded a solo tackle in his first game with Incarnate Word.<\/p>\n<h3>Elijah Collins, RB, Oklahoma State<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/24foshow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@24foshow<\/a> with his first TD as a Cowboy! \ud83e\udd20<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa: ESPN+<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GoPokes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GoPokes<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DAT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DAT<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7FClhGSw5z\">pic.twitter.com\/7FClhGSw5z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CowboyFB\/status\/1698154138977366032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 3, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Whenever you think of Elijah Collins, you probably think of that great season he had in the final year of Mark Dantonio. He&#8217;s always just solid and he had another really good game against Central Arkansas to kick off the season with eight carries for 51 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n<h3>Theo Day, QB, Northern Illinois<\/h3>\n<p>Theo Day didn&#8217;t have his best game against Iowa State in an opening loss in Ames, completing just 16-of-34 passes for 164 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.<\/p>\n<h3>Cole DeMarzo, LB, Wyoming<\/h3>\n<p>While Wyoming picked up a huge upset win over Texas Tech, Cole DeMarzo just had one tackle.<\/p>\n<h3>Michael Dowell, DB, Miami (OH)<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">REDHAWKS!! Michael Dowell picks off Tyler Van Dyke! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bbi5ZXgFWf\">pic.twitter.com\/bbi5ZXgFWf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FOLLOW: @TSV__1 (@TSV__1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSV__1\/status\/1697764736547623378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 2, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Michael Dowell is still playing college football for Miami (OH) and he had a decent opening game against Miami (FL), recording two tackles with an interception.<\/p>\n<h3>Donovan Eaglin, RB, Alabama A&amp;M<\/h3>\n<p>After a nice first season with Alabama A&amp;M in 2022, rushing for over 800 yards, Donovan Eaglin had a rough first game of 2023 against Vanderbilt. He rushed for just 23 yards on eight carries.<\/p>\n<h3>Michael Fletcher, DE, Appalachian State<\/h3>\n<p>It was a modest first game for Michael Fletcher against Gardner-Webb, recording three tackles and a pass breakup.<\/p>\n<h3>Kalon Gervin, CB, Kansas<\/h3>\n<p>Another Dantonio-era recruit for Michigan State football, Kalon Gervin seems to be doing well at a Kansas program that has turned things around big-time. He had two tackles in the opening win over Missouri State.<\/p>\n<h3>Trenton Gillison, TE, Tennessee State<\/h3>\n<p>Trenton Gillison plays for Eddie George and Tennessee State now and he had three catches for 30 yards in a season-opening loss to Notre Dame.<\/p>\n<h3>Parks Gissinger, TE, Furman<\/h3>\n<p>Parks Gissinger came to Michigan State as a defensive end, but moved to tight end and then transferred to Furman. He had one catch for seven yards in Week 1.<\/p>\n<h3>Tate Hallock, S, Western Michigan<\/h3>\n<p>Tate Hallock, now a senior safety for Western Michigan, had seven tackles against St. Francis (PA) in Week 1.<\/p>\n<h3>Devin Hightower, LB, Rhode Island<\/h3>\n<p>Devin Hightower had five total tackles in a loss to Georgia State over the weekend.<\/p>\n<h3>Chris Jackson, CB, Washington State<\/h3>\n<p>Not a huge game, but Chris Jackson was decent, recording a tackle with a pass breakup against Colorado State.<\/p>\n<h3>Terry Lockett, WR, Eastern Michigan<\/h3>\n<p>Former Michigan State football wideout Terry Lockett had three catches for 18 yards against Howard.<\/p>\n<h3>Dashaun Mallory, DT, Arizona State<\/h3>\n<p>The new-look Arizona State program added Dashaun Mallory this offseason and he had four total tackles in a tight season-opening win over Southern Utah.<\/p>\n<h3>Jeff Pietrowski, LB, Wisconsin<\/h3>\n<p>Jeff Pietrowski went to &#8216;LB U&#8217; this offseason and has joined Luke Fickell in Madison. He had two tackles in Wisconsin&#8217;s Week 1 win.<\/p>\n<h3>Jack Olsen, K, Northwestern<\/h3>\n<p>Northwestern didn&#8217;t score much against Rutgers in Week 1, but former Michigan State football kicker Jack Olsen still put a point on the board with an extra point.<\/p>\n<h3>Charles Willekes, LB, Arkansas State<\/h3>\n<p>Charles Willekes&#8217; Arkansas State Red Wolves were on the wrong end of a 70-3 blowout against Oklahoma on Saturday but he finished with three total tackles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How did all the MSU transfers do?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[59,191,189],"class_list":["post-6431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-featured","tag-michigan-state-football","tag-michigan-state-spartans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spartanshadows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}