Michigan State Football: Midseason awards for 2021 Spartans

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Michigan State’s Jayden Reed returns a punt for a touchdown against Nebraska during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.210925 Msu Nebraska 227a /

Top special teams performer: Jayden Reed

You could make the argument for Bryce Baringer to be the special teams player of the year so far and you wouldn’t get much push-back from me, but I think Jayden Reed’s impact on the Spartans’ season thus far has been too great to ignore.

Reed has been a menace in the return game, bringing two punts back for touchdowns in back-to-back games against Western Kentucky and Nebraska which changed the outlook of each.

Michigan State was dead in the water against Nebraska, picking up just 15 total yards in the second half and falling behind by a touchdown before Reed returned a punt for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to breathe life into the Spartans. That led to an overtime win that wouldn’t have been possible without his heroics.

And then he kicked things off against Western Kentucky with a return touchdown which set the tone and the Spartans never looked back.

The field position battle is consistently won because of Reed and his electricity in the return game has been a godsend.

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