Friday night marks the start of the second year in Jonathan Smith’s tenure as head coach of Michigan State football. The Spartans will kick off their season under the lights at 7 p.m. ET with Western Michigan, an in-state foe, making the trip from Kalamazoo.
Michigan State has historically dominated the series against the Broncos. The Spartans have a 15–2 all-time advantage with 13 straight wins. The Spartans haven’t fallen to the Broncos since 1919.
Despite the Spartans being three-touchdown favorites, extending this century-long streak won't be easy.
Still, Western Michigan enters East Lansing with a chip on its shoulder, ready to upset Michigan State at home. For Michigan State, the path to victory will come down to three key factors.
Let’s take a look at what the Spartans need to do to start out the season in the win column.
3. Expose the inexperience of Western Michigan
Western Michigan only returns five starters from its six-win team last fall. Meanwhile, Michigan State brings back 10, and fills in the cracks with high level transfer additions like Omari Kelly, Grady Kelly, Conner Moore, Matt Gulbin, and plenty more.
Taking advantage of this should be a major emphasis for the Spartans.
Western Michigan is trotting out five new offensive lineman. As we know, winning in the trenches is often a recipe for success. If Joe Rossi can dial up some unique fronts and creative blitzes, this could create plenty of stops for Michigan State.
Broncos head coach Lance Taylor says Western Michigan plans to play both Broc Lowry and Brady Jones at quarterback. This is also an opportunity for Michigan State to expose two young signal-callers on the road in a hostile environment.
Disguising coverage and mixing in stunts, blitzes can help fluster the two young quarterbacks.
All-in-all, with a more experienced team, Michigan State needs to take advantage of its continuity by playing sound football and eliminating the mental errors.
2. Contain RB Jalen Buckley
Jalen Buckley is the lead back for the Broncos and has been a very reliable player throughout his career. In 2023, he was named MAC freshman of the year with 1003 rushing yards on 189 carries. Last season, he took a small step back, but Buckley is a talented player regardless, and Rossi will need to scheme ways to stop him.
Western Michigan plans to trot out two quarterbacks Friday night vs Michigan State. This is an advantage for Michigan State, in my opinion. The old adage "when you have two quarterbacks, you have none" could apply perfectly here.
With that, Western Michigan will look to establish the ground game early against Michigan State. This means Buckley will be looking to make plays and extend drives. If he is able to cause havoc, the Spartans could be on upset alert.
On the other hand, if they can contain the talented tailback, it will force the Broncos to air it out with their pair of inexperienced quarterbacks.
1. Take care of the ball
Yes, I understand this is quite obvious. But this isn't cliche, it's very much true.
Last year, turnovers were the Achilles heel for the Spartans. If you remember Week 1 from last year, the Spartans almost lost to a mediocre Florida Atlantic team because of their lack of ball security.
Even in games they won, the Spartans had to battle back from mental mistakes. Avoiding this will be huge in ensuring a stress-free win in Week 1.
Taking care of the foootball is a major part of the game, and Jonathan Smith would hate to keep the Broncos in this game. The first step to taking out the Broncos is not giving them any freebies and making sure the turnover margin stays in the Spartans' favor.