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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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Sporting a helmet featuring Sparty carrying a flag, Michigan State’s Bryce Baringer looks on before the football game against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in East Lansing.221112 Msu Rutgers Fb 025a
Sporting a helmet featuring Sparty carrying a flag, Michigan State’s Bryce Baringer looks on before the football game against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in East Lansing.221112 Msu Rutgers Fb 025a /

5. A punter

Bryce Baringer was the biggest star for the Spartans in 2022, but he cannot return for a seventh year in 2023. That leaves a hole on the depth chart where Baringer has been entrenched for most of the last three seasons. In an ideal world, we never punt in 2023, but this is not Madden.

The only other punter on the roster stands as walk-on freshman Ryan Eckley who averaged 42.6 yards per punt as a high school senior, which is not nearly the same as Baringer’s 49.0 average from this season.

Not many people are talking about this legitimate concern for next season. Mel Tucker has reached into the portal for a punter before, grabbing Mitchell Crawford before his first season as the Spartans’ head coach. Baringer ultimately beat out Crawford for the job, and I am both hoping and expecting Tucker to reach back into the portal again.

This is the Big Ten, a punter is not just a stocking stuffer.

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