What Michigan State football offensive snap counts against Western Michigan reveal

Which offensive players saw the most action for Michigan State football in its win over Western Michigan on Friday?

On Friday, Michigan State football opened its season against the Western Michigan Broncos. With Jonathan Smith not releasing a depth chart, it was the first time to see how players stacked up compared to their preseason hype from coach press conferences.

Some players, such as Gavin Broscious and Caleb Carter, got the starting nod after there was a belief that those two would be backup guards.

It is worth noting that a few players who would factor into the playing time conversation missed Friday’s game for injury. On offense, tight end Brennan Parachek, running back Jace Clarizio, and offensive lineman Luka Vincic all did not play.

On offense, there were 70 snaps, including both kneel downs. All percentages are based out of 70 snaps. Italicized players started.

Quarterback

Aidan Chiles: (64) 94%
Alessio Milivojevic: (4, and 2 kneel downs) 6%

As expected, Aidan Chiles ate the majority of the reps at the quarterback position. Heading into the game, there was a hope Michigan State football would have this game over in a four-possession advantage, but that was not the case. As a result, Alessio Milivojevic only was on the field for the last few series, following an injury scare to Chiles. Worse yet, Milivojevic’s second career pass attempt went just as well as his first, with it being a pick-six.

Running back

Makhi Frazier: (29) 41%
Brandon Tullis: (22) 31%
Elijah Tau-Tolliver: (19) 27%

Makhi Frazier won the starting job out of camp, being announced as the sole starter during player introductions. Fittingly, his 14 carries nearly equaled that of backups Brandon Tullis (seven) and Elijah Tau-Tolliver (eight). Frazier’s 103 yards became the first 100-yard rushing game for the Spartans since Nate Carter did so against Michigan last October.

Tullis was the first back off the bench to relieve Frazier, with Tau-Tolliver seeing the majority of his snaps as the Spartans looked to drain the clock in the fourth quarter. The two sophomores, Frazier and Tullis, were the most efficient of the backs. In his post-game press conference, Jonathan Smith cited that it is hard to rotate three running backs, and the senior Tau-Tolliver had a similar skillset to the two primary backs.

Fullback

Jay Coyne: (11) 16%

Jay Coyne returns as fullback in 2025, and the Spartans trotted out the I-formation and offset I-form for 16-percent of their snaps. Overall, this is a trend that should be monitored once Brennan Parachek returns to full health. The Spartans may elect to use three-tight end formations more.

Tight end

Jack Velling: (47) 67%
Michael Masunas: (41) 58.5%
Kai Rios: (2) 3%

With Brennan Parachek out, there were questions regarding who would replace the true junior. As it turns out, nobody did. True freshman Jayden Savoury did not play on Friday, nor did redshirt freshman Wyatt Hook. Kai Rios made his Spartan debut, playing the last two snaps as the Spartans ran out the clock.

Michael Masunas and Jack Velling were introduced co-starters, but the former was the only one on the field for the first play of the game. Velling recorded a single catch for three yards, while Masunas had a pair of catches for 22 yards. The biggest concern for this unit was the run blocking, though. The first quarter alone saw both tight ends whiff on a run block opportunity.

Offensive line

Matt Gulbin: (70) 100%
Conner Moore: (57) 81%
Gavin Broscious: (49) 70%
Caleb Carter: (48) 68.5%
Ashton Lepo: (43) 61%
Kristian Phillips: (43) 61%
Stanton Ramil: (40) 57%

The Spartans played seven on their offensive line of Friday night, with the starting combination (left-to-right) being Ramil-Carter-Gulbin-Broscious-Moore. Ramil appeared to get banged up during a series in the second quarter, and that led to extended action for Lepo and Moore at the tackle slots. Ramil did tag in at points, but the staff was playing it safe. Similarly, Luka Vincic did not play on Friday.

Rakeem Johnson and Rustin Young both saw special teams’ action as well, but were not on field for any offensive drives.

The staff tested the players, with varying efficiencies. The starting five, alongside the combination of Moore-Broscious-Gulbin-Phillips-Lepo drove down the field in the first two series. In the second half, however, no matter which combination was in, the push was not there. Additionally, the passing game let up two early Nadame Tucker sacks, with the Bronco edge rusher living in the Michigan State backfield in the first half.

Wide receiver

Nick Marsh: (56) 80%
Omari Kelly: (47) 67%
Chrishon McCray: (36) 51%
Rod Bullard Jr.: (23) 33%
Evan Boyd: (14) 20%
Alante Brown: (2) 3%

The Spartans broke in a new receiver room against the Broncos, and Omari Kelly impressed. While Nick Marsh was on field for nine more snaps, Kelly was targeted five more times. In part, Marsh was on the scouting report more, with the Chiles-Marsh connection being a “known” factor from last year.

The unknown burned the Broncos, with Kelly recording 75 receiving yards on his seven catches. Marsh had five catches for 32 yards, including a series with three catches back-to-back-to-back. Chrishon McCray was only targeted twice, recording his first career catch as a Spartan for 28 yards. His other target was overthrown with the Kent State product being wide open.

Bullard and Boyd both did not receive targets in their Spartan debuts, despite each playing in over 20-percent of the Spartans’ snaps. Brown got his first offensive action at the end of the game, but his only targeted route was jumped by former Spartan-turned-Bronco Tate Hallock for a pick-six.