Michigan State Football: Ricky White’s breakout should be no surprise

Ricky White got his opportunity to start with Tre Mosley sidelined and he made a historic impact on the rivalry for Michigan State football.

Ricky White caught one pass for five yards in Michigan State’s season opener. During a stunning upset over a top-15 team in the second week of the season, the true freshman had a coming-out party as he exploded, catching eight passes for 196 yards and a touchdown.

In many ways, his season-opening difficulties followed by his strong response in Week 9, directly correlated with the drastic improvement of the MSU team as a whole. His breakout performance couldn’t have come at a better time.

This win is one of the most important in the rivalry’s recent history as it will hopefully catapult the Spartans to find additional success as the year unfolds. They can use the momentum created by this victory to boost recruiting, too. Losing three in a row to Michigan would have been difficult to stomach.

Who is White, you ask? He’s a speedy wide out who excelled at the prep level in leading Marietta (Ga.) High to its first state title in 52 years late last fall. Counting his accumulated stats during Marietta’s playoff run, his numbers were absolutely jaw-dropping as he hauled in 103 passes for 1,519 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns. That topped his junior season where he snagged 55 balls for 1,066 yards to go along with 13 touchdowns.

That remarkable production over a two year span helped him garner interest from college football programs across the country.

In all, White collected 30 scholarship offers but Michigan State extended him an offer before his senior year when he had an uptick in both personal and team achievements and as a result, he emerged as a nationally-known prospect. He surely appreciated MSU’s belief in him very early on in his recruitment. He rewarded their confidence in him with a summer 2019 commitment.

White stands just over six feet tall and weighs roughly 180 pounds (similar in size and stature to Jalen Nailor and Jayden Reed). Once he adds muscle to his frame to pair with his quickness, he will become even more of a problem for each opposing secondary.

White’s 196-yard eruption was the Spartans’ second-highest all-time single-game receiving yard output in the history of Michigan rivalry, trailing only the extraordinary 255-yard performance Plaxico Burress amassed during a 34-31 win back in 1999 versus a Wolverine squad that at the time was ranked third in the nation. White’s outburst was the seventh-highest single-game receiving yard total in the rich history of the program.

The freshman’s clutch grab to put MSU in the red zone with less than 10 minutes to play was critical to cushion their lead. That huge play helped MSU extend their advantage to 10 after it was followed by a Connor Heyward score on a screen pass. Without that touchdown, the Spartans could have been staring at overtime and an uncertain finish.

White did receive some assistance from his supporting cast.

To his credit, Rocky Lombardi delivered some excellent throws (without throwing any interceptions) when he needed to and the offensive line held up well enough to provide him with a clean pocket (zero sacks allowed on the day). The frustrating aspect is that MSU let its foot off the gas and went conservative with play-calling too often. Reed was the focal point of Michigan’s defense and that freed up White.

The lack of crowd noise surely helped White’s remain calm during his true debut on the big stage. For once, the referees honed in on Don Brown’s defensive backs and their propensity to hold and mug receivers. They played fair once those violations were being called and that gave White a chance to get loose downfield and flourish when corners weren’t given the right to mug him.

White wouldn’t have had this platform had Tre Mosley not gone down with an injury during the season’s first contest. It’s safe to say that he capitalized on his chance to crack the rotation and shine.

Mel Tucker told reporters that White “makes plays in practice” and that hard work during preparation impressed the coaching staff.

White has a maturity about him that is impressive telling the press postgame, “I tend to concentrate and stay focused to make as many plays as I can.” That serious approach and attention to detail could lead him to stardom.

After Brian Lewerke struggled to consistently find electric playmakers during the past few seasons, Tucker all of the sudden has an abundance of fantastic weapons at his disposal. White, Nailor and Reed give the Spartans a formidable trio of pass-catchers. What’s scary is they are all underclassmen. The future is bright for the Spartans.

Let’s relive White’s spectacular arrival by taking another look at his highlight reel below:

Yeah, this kid is going to be good.