Story by
Spartans Week One Report Card
- Story by
- Spartans Week One Report Card
Michigan State opened the Pat Fitzgerald era with a 30-20 win over Toledo on Friday night. In the first week of position group grading, the Spartans' special teams led the way after accounting for half of the scoring.
Quarterbacks: B+
Alessio Milivojevic had a solid outing, completing 26 of his 34 pass attempts for 247 yards without an interception. However, he struggled to score once he got into Toledo territory, only having a single passing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Advertisement
Running Backs: B
Cam Edwards started the game on fire; in the first quarter he had 52 rushing yards , along with an opening-drive touchdown. He struggled the rest of the game after getting banged up and dealing with cramping; in the final three quarters, he had just 46 rushing yards on 16 attempts. He finished with 98 yards on 27 carries.
Wide Receivers: B
After the coaches talked about the wide receiver room potentially going seven to eight players deep , just two receivers dominated the passing game. Chrishon McCray and Rodney Bullard Jr. had 15 of the group's 19 catches, McCray going for 69 yards and Bullard adding 90 and the team's only receiving touchdown.
Advertisement
Tight Ends: B-
The Spartans tight end room worked quietly during Friday's game. Freshman Jayden Savoury had four receptions for 36 yards , but the rest of the group didn't make any eye-popping plays.
Offensive Line: C+
While the offensive line held Toledo's defense to just five tackles for loss, they blew a potential touchdown drive to end the first half. Michigan State found themselves with a third-and-goal situation with just three yards to go. The offensive line proceeded to get a holding call, then allowed a sack on the next play, ending the drive with a 35-yard field goal.
Defensive Line: B+
Despite holding the Rockets' run game to a minimum all game, they allowed an explosive 71-yard rushing touchdown after an uncovered gap gave an open runway. Toledo finished with 77 rushing yards on 20 carries; without that one run, the Spartans would have allowed just 25 yards on 15 attempts to Toledo's running backs.
Advertisement
Linebackers: C
After Jordan Hall went down in the first quarter with an arm injury, he came back with a brace and was visibly a step off. The linebacker group accounted for just 10 of the Spartans' 40 tackles.
Defensive Backs: C-
The secondary allowed four passing plays of 20-plus yards. One was a misread by cornerback Charles Brantley that saw him give up a 60-yard touchdown to Toledo's Adjatay Dabbs . Brantley even caught up to Dabbs on the play, but failed to make the tackle, instead hanging on Dabbs' back for the final 10 yards.
Special Teams: A
Michigan State kicker Liam Boyd had the best game of his career. He made five field goals on six attempts, including a career-high 51-yarder , and those 15 points were half of everything the Spartans scored. The only thing keeping this from being an A+ is the one attempt that got blocked, stopping a perfect day.
Advertisement
Coaching: B
Pat Fitzgerald showed his belief in his team from the very start of his first game in charge. On the opening drive, he went for it on two fourth-and-short opportunities, and the team converted both. The biggest hit on the coaches was the play calling. Nick Sheridan, also in his first season with the Spartans, ran a conservative game plan, with Michigan State having only two plays for 20-plus yards.
