Things can just never be easy for Michigan State football. After taking a 13-0 lead early and then a 19-7 lead into halftime, the Spartans led Toledo storm back to take a 20-19 lead before Michigan State marched down immediately to regain the lead, 27-20.
The Spartans would tack on a field goal to win 30-20 to kick off the Pat Fitzgerald era.
A missed field goal by Toledo kept the score the same and gave Michigan State the ball back in a bend-but-don’t-break defensive possession in the fourth quarter.
Michigan State would go on to slog its way to a decently-long drive to melt the clock in the fourth quarter and they had to do some of it without Cam Edwards who left the field with an injury two different times. He was able to help ice the final drive for the Spartans but it still wasn’t easy as there were several third-down conversions needed to extend it.
Pat Fitzgerald was able to hold on in his first game as Michigan State head coach and you know he’s going to want to clean a lot of things up this week before facing Eastern Michigan.
What’d we learn from the way-too-close win?
1. The secondary needs work
Early on, it looked like Toledo was shellshocked and QB1 John Alan Richter wasn’t comfortable in the pocket and the coverage was solid. He settled in and then started picking apart the secondary in the second half to the tune of 196 yards and two touchdowns. They need to tighten up or they’re going to get torched in Big Ten play.
Charles Brantley didn’t have a good game, Tre Bell was solid early before struggling a bit in coverage in the second half, and there were just way too many blown coverages. Too many soft spots were exploited in the second half and that was the main reason that the Rockets were able to sustain several drives and make things interesting.
Michigan State’s secondary has been mediocre ever since Mark Dantonio retired and it looks like it’s going to need another year before it has a pulse again because it had a rough start on Friday night.
2. Liam Boyd is going to be fun to watch
How often can you say that a kicker is going to be fun to watch? Michigan State may have a rarity at kicker in Liam Boyd. The Charlotte transfer was the star on Friday night, kicking five field goals, including a career-long 51-yarder in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach for good.
Boyd’s only miss was a blocked 54-yarder early in the second half that wasn’t his fault and that led to a Toledo touchdown a few plays later.
But whenever you have an elite kicker, you can be in a lot of games. Boyd was 5-for-6 with a career-long 51-yarder and he wasn’t necessarily close to missing any of his five makes.
It’s also not the best sign when your kicker is one of the stars of a win.
3. Michigan State needed every bit of Rod Bullard Jr.
Michigan State needed every bit of Rodney Bullard Jr. on Friday night to beat the Rockets and that eligibility ruling turned out to be one of the best developments of fall camp.
When Bullard was ruled eligible, no one could have guessed how valuable he’d be right away, but he entered the starting lineup and led all Michigan State receivers with 90 yards and a touchdown on seven catches on Friday night. He also caught the two-point conversion in traffic, showing that he’s not just a speedster, but he can also rise up and catch the ball over defenders. He high-pointed a few balls and was clutch in the second half.
Bullard Jr. caps the drive with the 2-point conversion! 🟢⚪#MSU pic.twitter.com/bJwF52MKuc
— “JordanOnSports” (@JordanOnSports1) September 5, 2026
Chrishon McCray was solid, but Bullard may have been the star on offense even after Cam Edwards showed flashes of being a star in the backfield.
If you picked Rod Bullard Jr. as the difference-maker on Friday night, you need to go buy a lotter ticket.
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