50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 43

Welcome back to day eight of this 50-day Michigan State football series. Today, we highlight a play from special teams ace Jayden Reed.

Welcome back to day eight of this 50-day Michigan State football series. Today, we highlight a play from special teams ace Jayden Reed.

For those of you who missed yesterday’s article, please click here. If you would like to look at previous articles of this series, feel free to scroll through my writing profile.

No. 43: Jayden Reed’s 88-yard punt return TD vs. WKU

Why No. 43?

This play was explosive and dynamic, as well as the best encore from his Week 4 punt return touchdown. As I mentioned in article No. 46, Reed had two scores of 85 or more yards in 2021, this being his second, and longest, play of the season.

When I watched the play live at the stadium, I recall telling my friend as the punt was in the air, “This is a great punt, but did he outkick the coverage?” As I would find out about 15 seconds later, yes, John Haggerty III outkicked his coverage.

With a few jukes and a break to the sideline, Reed was free to score his second punt return touchdown in two weeks. Not bad for a Michigan State football program that had not had a punt return touchdown since 2011 prior to the previous week.

This was another “wow” play, with Reed making the Hilltoppers’ punt coverage look silly. As it was homecoming, the crowd at Spartan Stadium exploded. All the momentum in this game got pushed towards the home team, and their first half reflected it. Five of the Spartans’ six offensive possessions in the first half resulted in touchdowns. Seeing that this was the week of the “Gruff Sparty” helmet, I truly believe this inspired the first-half effort.

While this play certainly set the tone for the first half of the game, Western Kentucky’s explosive second-half performance lowers the impact of this play. The Hilltoppers crawled back into the game and made the final 17-point victory underwhelming. Then again, three-possession victories are hard to call close games, additionally lowering the impact of a dynamic play like this.

Statistically, this was significant as it moved Reed into a tie for most punt return touchdowns in the FBS in 2021, which would stand the rest of the season. Additionally, as mentioned above, this helped vanish the curse on punt returns for Michigan State football. After nearly 10 years without a punt return score, the green and white faithful were spoiled with two of them in two weeks.

If you want a more impactful punt return touchdown, it will be a few more weeks until I write about Reed’s other score on special teams.

For those looking for a clue for tomorrow’s article, another play from this game will be featured