Michigan State football: Stock watch from FAU win

Jonathan Smith picked up his first win as Michigan State football coach on Friday and here’s whose stock benefitted.

The first game under Jonathan Smith ends with his first win as head coach of Michigan State football. In the game, there were some good things but also not the performance offensively that fans wanted.

With this performance, whose stock went up after Friday’s win, and whose went down?

Stock up

• Defense

If there was one reason Michigan State won this game, it was the defense. Going into this game, there were questions about the defensive line but also hope for the secondary to be better. On Friday, Michigan State showed that the defense has taken a step forward from any game they played last year.

Michigan State got impact performances from Khris Bogle, D’Quan Douse, Angelo Grose, Ed Woods, and many others.

Outside of a few mishaps on defense, the defense flew around and made plays when they had to. The defense also was the first to score which for some might seem like the most Michigan State thing to happen. This was a very encouraging defensive performance even if it’s against an offense that we don’t know if they will be very good or not.

• Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams

If you want to look at one bright spot on offense, it was Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams. When he got the ball, it looked like something fans hadn’t seen in a few years. No, this is not saying he is Kenneth Walker III or even going to be close but there just seems to be a different speed and more electric play possibility when he gets the ball. For example, his 50-plus-yard touchdown that was the game-winning score. I would like to see Lynch-Adams get the ball more and see what he can do in the next few games.

• Ryan Eckley

It wouldn’t be a Michigan State stock watch article if it didn’t include special teams. In this game, Ryan Eckley was spectacular as usual. He pinned the ball within the 10-yard-line multiple times and helped Michigan State get their first points of the game by pinning Florida Atlantic on the 1-yard-line. He continued his great performance from last year today and it is fun watching him pin the other team deep in their territory.

Stock down

• Offensive play-calling

There also wouldn’t be a stock watch article if it didn’t include the offensive play-calling. After letting Jay Johnson go last year, there was hope that the offense would be better. That hope — while at times the play-calling has some good play designs — seems to be quickly dwindling. There were several times that on third-and-short, Michigan State would take a deep shot down the field. While this is different than the conservative play calling that the Spartans had last year, it would be nice to not run the same deep shot every time.

Another memorable play is running the ball down the middle on fourth-and-1 and getting stuffed. This decision could have lost the game but it did not. This was the first game and it didn’t seem like they used much motion so it could get better but this wasn’t a strong start.

• Nate Carter

Nate Carter had a rough night on Friday. He had a dropped pass and he never seemed to break through the line for a big play. This is the first game and with the offensive line struggling to open holes for the majority of the game, there is still room to grow but this is not the performance that fans were hoping for from Carter.

• Montorie Foster

Montorie Foster was another experienced player who had a rough day. From the first play that led to an interception from Aidan Chiles to a fumble in the red zone, this is not the start that he was looking for especially after he was the best wide receiver from last year’s team. While it wasn’t a good performance, I do expect him to rebound next week, just like Carter.

Friday night wasn’t the performance, especially offensively, that fans hoped and wanted. There were some experienced offensive starters that did not have a good day. Do I think those players will have days like they did again? I don’t but tonight wasn’t a great performance. With that being said, the most important thing after Friday is that Michigan State football is 1-0 and got Smith his first win.

It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was one the team needed even though there is going to be a lot to fix especially offensively.