Michigan State Football: 3 bright spots heading into Michigan game

1. Antjuan Simmons

The defensive side of the ball didn’t do anything all that impressive on Saturday afternoon, but if there was one guy who I came away incredibly impressed with, it would have to be Antjuan Simmons.

The senior linebacker and team leader had a team-high 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry as it seemed like he was all over the field.

If I had to knock him for anything during the game, it would be an inadvertent slip on a QB spy play where Noah Vedral ran past him for a Rutgers touchdown. It wasn’t even like he was out of place, he just lost his footing and couldn’t make up the ground as the Scarlet Knights made it 21-7 early in the second quarter.

Simmons looked like the best defender on the field for both sides all afternoon as he didn’t get beat, was in on almost every tackle and didn’t let much past him.

There’s a reason this kid was considered one of the Big Ten’s best linebackers heading into the season and if he comes back in 2021 (thanks to COVID-19 allowing eligibility to be frozen), he could become an all-time MSU great.