The leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting that crisp feeling, and you can almost smell the hot dogs and brats on the grill which means just one thing: football is back. With the return of Michigan State football on Friday night, fans finally got a taste of improvement.
All offseason, Spartan fans heard about how much the team has improved depth-wise and offensively, but they got to see it in action on Friday night in a 23-6 win over Western Michigan.
Michigan State opened the season with a comfortable win, but it ended rather disappointingly with just two second-half points on a safety in the third quarter. Ryan Eckley deserves some praise for how he played, and he helped Michigan State get some points on the board with his pinned-deep punts.
With the return of Spartan football, however, comes the return of the NFL. That means we get to watch a handful of Spartans in the NFL compete for starting jobs this season.
Three Spartans who were vying for 53-man NFL roster spots this week (two of them made their respective rosters) were in town for Michigan State's opener, hanging out on the sidelines.
Had several of our Sunday Dawgs in the house last night… Few more were not pictured but in the house on their week off, keeping the SD4L brand strong. pic.twitter.com/8TYMYCkLHf
— Kurt Richardson (@MotownKurtis) August 30, 2025
Nate Carter, who just made the Falcons' 53-man roster as the RB3, Ben VanSumeren, who made the Eagles' roster as a fullback, and Jordan Turner, who signed with the Broncos' practice squad, all showed up to support their former teammates during their week off before the 2025 season.
This is that culture you love to see, and it's building under Jonathan Smith.
VanSumeren never played for Smith, but his younger brother is the starting defensive tackle for the Spartans so he was in town to show support. Turner and Carter were both on Smith's first team a year ago and both have impressed in the NFL preseason.
Smith is going to have to attend some of their games when he gets a chance.