Michigan State football box score warriors: Central Michigan edition

Sometimes the eye test doesn’t catch everything, so let’s see what the Michigan State football box score told us from the CMU win.

Box scores never tell the full story. They can give you a good idea of how teams played and give you an indication as to who might have won the game, but you always need to take them with a grain of salt. The “eye test” has its flaws as well, but you can’t draw reasonable conclusions about Michigan State football just from looking at the final box score.

With that being said, let’s dive into the box score from Michigan State’s 31-7 victory over Central Michigan last Friday. Without letting the on-field play impact our conclusions, let’s see what stats stand out to us on both sides of the ball.

Team stats

Offense

A few things stand out to me in the box score on offense, and they aren’t good — 0-for-2 on fourth down is brutal. Fourth-down plays are always huge turning points in any game and failing to convert twice is bad. Regardless of what the play call was, you need to convert especially against an inferior opponent.

The time of possession also scares me a little bit. Like all stats in a box score, time of possession never tells the full story. But losing the time of possession with 25:34 is another reason for concern. Against a team like Central, I’d expect MSU to move the ball on the ground with long, time-consuming drives. This stat indicates that didn’t occur much and could mean bad news come Big Ten play.

Offensive team stats weren’t all worrisome however. Zero turnovers is a huge positive no matter who you’re playing. Crazy plays and unlucky bounces happen all the time, so to avoid a turnover for 60 minutes in the first game of the season is very good.

Defense

Two positives stand out to me from a defensive perspective.

First is the efficiency on third and fourth downs. Getting off the field is crucial in every game, especially early in the game when it’s close. Michigan State’s defense held Central to 3-for-16 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth down. We stand a good chance at winning every game if our defense keeps that up.

On top of that, Michigan State limited Central offensively all night.

The defense only gave up 219 total yards of offense with only 96 of that through the air. For a unit that’s struggled in the secondary the last few years, giving up less than 100 yards in the air is a solid step in the right direction.

On the flip side, 123 rushing yards is more than I’d like to see. Against Big Ten teams I’d be OK with that number, but against Central it isn’t good enough. This game is one Michigan State football needed to dominate in every aspect, and it did not do that with its run defense on Friday.

Individual stats

Offense

Running back Nathan Carter jumps out to me the most when looking at the box score. Michigan State desperately needs someone to emerge as a legit threat out of the backfield, and Carter’s stats show he could be that guy. Carrying 18 times for 113 yards and a touchdown is no joke. Add in a reception for 21 yards and he had a solid all around game. Carter won’t be able to live up to what Kenneth Walker III accomplished, likely no one ever will in our lifetime, but these stats give me hope for his future.

This box score also shows that we have some solid depth at wide receiver. The receiver room had a lot of questions surrounding it after the departures of Jayden Reed, Germie Bernard, and Keon Coleman, but they put up good numbers as a unit. Nine different Spartans had at least one catch with Jaron Glover and Christian Fitzpatrick leading the way with three catches each and 75 and 70 yards respectfully. There is, however, one aspect for the wide receivers that concerns me. Nobody broke out as the “go-to” guy. It would have been nice to see someone catch seven or eight balls and emerge as that “go-to” guy.

If Michigan State wants to have a great season, someone needs to be the alpha in this group.

Defense/Special teams

Three players all recorded at least eight tackles for the defense this game: Cal Haladay, Malik Spencer, and Jacoby Windmon. It is always nice to see more than one player stand out and rack up tackles for the defense.

Two things stood out to me when looking at the special teams unit. The first being kicker Jonathan Kim and the perfect outing he gave MSU — 3-for-3 on extra points and he made his one field goal attempt from 47 yards. After the recent kicking woes for Michigan State football, it was refreshing seeing him step up this game. Tyrell Henry also stands out on the special teams box score. He had six punt returns for 55 yards, an average of about 9.0 yards which is pretty solid. He also had one kick return for 26 yards which is exceptional as well. It’s looking like he can grow into a dangerous threat as a return man for MSU.