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Michigan State Football: What’s on a Spartan fan’s ideal Christmas wish list?

By Emmett Matasovsky

Sep 25, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans punter Bryce Baringer (99) punts the ball during the third quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans punter Bryce Baringer (99) punts the ball during the third quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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After listening to a few hours of Christmas songs at work last night, the idea struck me: what would the Michigan State football fans want for Christmas?

Coming off of a 5-7 season, the Spartans are focused on the 2023 season and the recruiting trail for the time being, with the awards being handed out and no bowl game practices to pay attention to.

I’m not trying to be an armchair coach here, nor am I claiming to be any professional, these are my opinions on what would make me a happy Michigan State football fan for Christmas.

To begin, there are a few small items I believe we all would love for Christmas. They would not make the Spartan football future any easier or brighter, but they would be good consolidation prizes considering the struggles 2022 brought us.

Small item No. 1: A redo of the awarding for the Ray Guy Award

Bryce Baringer was robbed of this year’s Ray Guy Award. Baringer destroyed Rutgers’ punter Adam Korsak in nearly every statistical category except for return yardage allowed, yet the latter won the award. Considering that the punter never is in charge of the coverage team (besides directional punting), this argument for Korsak is flimsy at best.

Baringer is a first-team All-American and All-Big Ten and the Big Ten punter of the year, yet they hand the Ray Guy Award to the second-best punter in the division. To top things off, statistics show that Korsak had the worst year of a Ray Guy winner in the playoff era.

This was disgraceful.

Small item No. 2: A TCU victory in the Fiesta Bowl

I believe this one is self-explanatory, I have been on the TCU bandwagon all year, and seeing the Horned Frogs facing the Spartans’ biggest rival in the playoff? I believe in the power of the Hypnotoad.

Small item No. 3: Kenneth Walker III wins NFL OROY

The only football worth watching in the immediate future for Spartan fans happens happens to be the Lions and the Seahawks, who are part of a battle for the final NFC playoff spot. As a Lions fan but also a K9 fan, I hope that Walker balls out and wins the Offensive Rookie of the Year with Seattle, as he has been on pace to do before his recent injury.

However, I hope Seattle does not do too well, letting the Lions sneak into the playoffs.

Now that our hypothetical “wish list” is out of the way, let’s look at what the Spartans need to make this a very Merry Christmas.

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