Michigan State football: Charles Brantley was nation’s highest-graded CB in Week 3

Michigan State football starter Charles Brantley led the nation as the highest-graded cornerback in Week 3.

It’s been a wild ride for Charles Brantley with Michigan State football.

From committing to the Spartans under Mel Tucker, intercepting Cade McNamara to seal the 2021 victory over Michigan, and entering the portal twice, Brantley has stuck it out at MSU.

In last Saturday’s game against Prairie View A&M, the redshirt junior made a huge impact. Brantley had two solo tackles, a pass breakup, and of course the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. Those 100 yards set a new program record for the Spartans. Charles broke the record previously held by Dan Bass who had a 99 yard pick-six against Wisconsin in 1978.

The new record and the touchdown took a little while to be confirmed, however, as the officiating crew took a lengthy review to determine whether or not Brantley was down by contact before crossing the goal line.

The explosive play even earned the Big Ten Network’s play of the week. 

End zone 👉 end zone@MSU_Football DB Charles Brantley's 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣-yard Pick-6 is our Week 3 #B1GFootball 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠.

📍 @OldTrapper pic.twitter.com/upeJeatE2L

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 16, 2024

Possibly the craziest part about the whole play, though, was that Brantley had already returned a Prairie View A&M intercepted pass 35 yards for a pick-six earlier in the same drive. Unfortunately at the time, but fortunately in the end, the initial pick-six was nullified by a ticky-tack roughing the passer call on Angelo Grose.

All Spartan fans were aware of Brantley’s impact on the 40-0 win, but on Monday morning he received some national attention as well. Ignore the fact that PFF wrongly pictured Alante Brown, but Brantley was highest-graded cornerback in all of college football in Week 3.

Highest Graded Week 3 Cornerback:

🔒 Charles Brantley, Michigan State: 92.1@MSU_Football pic.twitter.com/dwrRukuQ3m

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 16, 2024

It’s great to see Brantley thriving once again for Michigan State football. He was a subject of some criticism over the past few years as all defensive backs were under the Mel Tucker/Scottie Hazelton regime. Luckily, it seems as if whatever growing pains were present in those years, Chuck has left them behind and is striding forward in 2024.

Look for Brantley to continue to make plays this Saturday, as the Spartans attempt to improve to 4-0 against Boston College.

Go Green.