Michigan State Football: 3 goals and a prediction for Week 1 vs. CMU

3. One offensive drive of at least 10 plays

Yes, we all love short fields and easy points, and this might be a long shot, but I would love to see the new quarterback go down the field and not have to rely on four big or lucky plays for first downs.

It seemed all too often that the offense would be in third-and-long, forcing Payton Thorne into throwing a 50/50 ball to Jayden Reed when he was healthy or Keon Coleman, which took longer than expected to find the right chemistry. Let’s see a good mix of run plays and pass plays and receivers running open due to scheme and route running instead of having to make a tough catch.

Prove that this season doesn’t hinge on one long run or a deep ball on third-and-8 to bail everyone out. A cohesive offense should be one that can sustain long drives and eat up the clock so its defense can rest, then be relentless on the field.

Prediction

Tre Mosley said they try to block out the outside noise but would be lying if he said they don’t hear some of it. All the outside noise says this Spartans team will be lucky to make a bowl game and I think these players take it personally.

They come out with their hair on fire on defense, but play it safe on offense. Michigan State Spartans 28, Central Michigan Chippewas 13 (Spartans cover the 14.5).