Michigan State Football: Last Notes from Eastern Michigan Game

The Spartans took down Eastern Michigan 35-7 on Saturday. Michigan State football turned what was an optimistic score for Eastern Michigan at halftime and crushed it with a 21-0 second half.

Author’s Note: This is not my usual article and is not a report of any kind, rather a forming of my ideas and thoughts from Michigan State’s game against Eastern Michigan. Below are some quick notes that were eventually expanded on during real time and after digesting the game.

Cam Fancher Situations Keep Defenses On Toes

The former Florida Atlantic quarterback transferred to Michigan State this past off-season and has played in both games to start the season. Fancher is really known for his mobile-ability, and that was shown off with the amount of run-pass-options that the Spartans ran in the third quarter.

MSU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan has shown his creative side before, with wildcat formations and the usage of the wide receivers in the room, but Fancher’s situations, especially the one in the third quarter of the game builds the Spartans offense up and keeps defense on their toes.

Spartans Offense Could Be Too Slow or Small For “Ground and Pound”

I’m not referencing the players here, but the overall strategy and elements that Sheridan wants to run.

With 8:50 in third quarter, the green and white finally scored via a Cam Edwards rushing touchdown after a 13-play drive that took over six minutes. Only one play was over ten total yards, and the green and white ran the ball eight times out of the entire 13 plays.

It is clear that Sheridan and the rest of the offensive staff want to establish an early identity of running the football, but with over 40 carries over the course of the game, and 258 rushing yards to show for it, Michigan State might have to rely a little bit more on their passing attack that pushed them down the field multiple times during the contest.

Fredrick Moore scored the first six points on a pass up the right seam. Charles Taplin scored for the first time in his career in the second half on a similar route that Moore ran. Jayden Savoury had a reception that was over forty yards on a drag route.

The point is Michigan State clearly wants to win football games and score using their running backs and offensive line. This was evident in the offseason with the Spartans strategy in the transfer portal, and the positions of Fitzgerald’s first few commits.

However, not every team that MSU has on their schedule is from the MAC. Even though the green and white have heavily invested in their rushing attack, Sheridan and quarterback coach John McNulty will be forced to put some weight on Milivojevic’s shoulders in order to move the team forward at a place that they want to be.

Devin Vaught Is One Of The Best Players On The Team

If nobody watched last weeks game for Michigan State against the Toledo Rockets, the only clip you needed to see was the one of Devin Vaught giving his best Troy Polamalu impression and cracking a Rocket at the line of scrimmage coming full-force downfield.

This week, Vaught flew around the field again. The redshirt junior safety tackled a receiver, which allowed for Charles Brantley to force and recover a fumble in the third quarter that led to a 38-yard touchdown pass to Charles Taplin.

With 30 seconds left in the third quarter however, Vaught went down with an injury while appearing to be holding his leg. Vaught walked off the field on his own power, and eventually finished the game at his position, missing one snap. It is unclear if the injury will affect him moving towards saturday night against Notre Dame.

Vaught finished the game with a 76.0 PFF grade, which was the second-highest rank for an MSU defensive player. If the Spartans want a chance to win this weekend in South Bend, Vaught has to lead the physicality on the defensive side of the ball.

Eli Coenen Looks Like A Star-Studded Pickup From The Portal

After the game, Spartans OnSI writer Jacob Cotsonika wrote an article on an updated version of the top 30 players for Michigan State football. Cotsonika originally Illinois transfer Eli Coenen at 20th coming into the season, but in the updated version, Coenen was ranked at the number three spot.

Now I’m not saying that Coenen is an amazing pickup just based on Cotsonika’s personal rankings, but rather including the fact that Coenen has support for his recent play from multiple outlets.

Coenen was ranked as the 930th best transfer and the 99th best defensive lineman in the portal by 247Sports. Projected as a run stopper, Coenen has surprised a ton of Spartan fans by his pass rush ability. For reference, last season MSU’s top pass rusher based on total sacks was Jalen Thompson who had 2.5 sacks. Through all of two games, Coenen has 3.0 sacks.

The comparison is evident, and the emphasis on rebuilding the pass rush was a huge one for Fitzgerald, bringing in former Arizona Cardinals defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere, and now Coenen from the portal. The Spartans biggest test is Notre Dame this upcoming weekend. If the green and white can show some upside in all facets of their game, it could be considered a win.