Michigan State Football: 3 things I’m looking for against FAU

Michigan State football enters the Jonathan Smith era with a lot of excitement, but a lot of questions. What are the three areas to watch?

As you read this, Michigan State football will return within hours. After an offseason that seemed to last from the end of Week 2 last year on, the Spartan faithful have something to cheer for. Jonathan Smith and a half dozen assistants, alongside three of his 2023 players, have joined the Spartans and brought forth a lot of promise, potential, and excitement.

The Spartans open the Smith era against Florida Atlantic, and there are a few things I am looking at.

How does the wide receiver rotation look?

The receiver room saw a lot of action this offseason, with the Spartans bringing in Nick Marsh, Jaylan Brown, and Austin Clay in recruiting. That came at the expense of losing Tyrell Henry, Christian Fitzpatrick, and Tre Mosley to the portal and graduation. I have been on the record stating that I believe the Spartans have had some of the most talented receiver rooms in the Big Ten.

While I believe that is still true, I am a bit more tempered in my expectations this year.

Nick Marsh is a guy who could be a player who we are mentioning as a potential Spartan record holder in a few years. He enters as the best player in the class, and all he has done in a few months of practice is put up 100 yards in the spring game, receive rave reviews, and nab extra time with the “1s” due to a few injuries in the receiver room. More on that later. Marsh should see the field for Michigan State football early and often, and he could be a guy we see as a returner, too. He nearly sparked his River Rouge High School team to an upset against state runner-up Belleville last season.

Montorie Foster Jr. is the only returning player with proven experience. He accounted for nearly 500 yards last season, but his drawback is a training camp injury in a scrimmage. He was recently stated to be “100 percent” so I will be monitoring this situation (and the injury report) before kickoff.

Outside of Foster and Jaron Glover (15 career catches), no wide receiver enters 2024 with more than five catches as a Spartan. Courtney Hawkins has proven to have a great eye for talent, so it will be interesting to see this new receiver rotation. Jaylan Brown was a late riser in the 247Sports rankings, nearly reaching four-star status late. Austin Clay has a ton of athleticism and could be another guy to watch at the returner position. I will have both eyes peeled on how Smith and Hawkins utilize this talented, but unproven, receiver room.

New defensive coordinator, new pass coverage results?

Last season, and the season before that, and honestly the whole Mel Tucker era, we watched the “break don’t”… I mean, “bend don’t break” defense. Unfortunately, that philosophy only works when the defense can get stops. Michigan State football looked to be turning a corner against the run last season, but the pass defense was still atrocious.

To compound things, the Spartans’ interceptions leader last year, Jaden Mangham, left for Ann Arbor. Smith hit this hard in the portal, adding defensive backs Ed Woods, Nikai Martinez, Lejond Cavazos, Jeremiah Hughes, and linebacker Wayne Matthews III. The Spartans also add another four defensive backs from their 2024 class, including Justin Denson Jr., Keshawn Williams, Jaylen Thompson, and Andrew Brinson IV. All of these players, alongside a few other linebacker transfers, look to add more of a lockdown element to the secondary.

New defensive coordinator Joe Rossi brings the Spartans a revamped 4-2-5 defense, and we have seen flashes already. The defensive line has drawn quite a few rave reviews, Nikai Martinez was mentioned to make the first interception when the Spartans threw pads on for the first time in the summer, and the linebacker room was recently called “the best in the country” by Jordan Hall.

All of that will be put to the test on Friday at 7 p.m. That said, this FAU team does not scream offensive powerhouse. However, if things go awry, there will be a few concerns. One example that comes to mind is the FAU tight end room. Florida Atlantic returns Kahlil Brantley and Zeke Moore, who combined for 101 yards and three touchdowns across the entire 2023 season. If either of them looks like Mackey Award candidates, I will be concerned.

All eyes on the offensive line

The last area I would like to key in on is the offensive line. Michigan State only has five offensive linemen — Ashton Lepo, Brandon Baldwin, Tanner Miller, Kristian Phillips, and Dallas Fincher — who have taken a snap at the FBS level. They also bring in FCS All-American Luke Newman, but his size translates more to that of a guard when he has been a left tackle for the last few seasons at Holy Cross. Of them, Miller was a second-team All-American via ESPN last year. Baldwin is the only other multi-year FBS starter, starting a majority of the last two years for MSU. Fincher did an admirable job filling in for Nick Samac last season when he dealt with injuries. Phillips and Lepo both looked promising in their limited reps last year. The concern is that only three players have seen quality playing time in this group.

In addition to the six players who played collegiate ball last season, five others were practicing with the Spartans in 2023. Those five are Cooper Terpstra, Jake Merritt, Gavin Broscious, Cole Dellinger, and Stanton Ramil. Both Brocious and Ramil missed last season due to injury, but have high potential and were viewed as massive recruiting wins. Dellinger was a three-star in the 2023 class. Terpstra was a one-time Grand Valley State commit who walked on to MSU. Jake Merritt is an exciting option, as the preferred walk-on chose the Spartans over the Wolverines and saw quality reps in the spring.

The rest of this group are freshmen, and I believe that at least one or two will likely have to burn their redshirt year due to either their talent or roster attrition from injuries. That said, four-stars Rustin Young and AJ Dennis lead the charge on that front.

There is a lot to watch from this group. Much like the receiver room, this group is talented but unproven.

The wait is over

Those are a few of the many headlines to look at entering Michigan State football’s season opener. A few other things I had considered: the Spartans have an opening at returner after Tyrell Henry departed the program, how the staff plans to address the talented tight end room, the running back rotation, and Aidan Chiles’ starting debut.

There are plenty of narratives and agendas that will be created and pushed following Friday night’s game. This offseason has gone on far too long, and the wait is finally over. I cannot wait to witness the Stripe the Stadium spectacular.