Jonathan Smith is officially 15 games into his Michigan State coaching career, and he has a winning record of 8-7, and yet he's been criticized heavily on social media this week.
All the good graces he built up from a Boston College double-overtime win a week ago have seemingly disappeared as fans were up in arms over a shaky performance against Youngstown State followed by a loss later that night by the same Eagles he beat in Week 2. Boston College lost to a bad Stanford team, which had a lot of Spartan fans questioning how impressive that Week 2 win really was.
Still, the Spartans are 3-0 on the season, and they're trying to make their first bowl game since 2021, but the number of fans jumping off the bandwagon after Week 3 is asinine.
Smith is building something in East Lansing, and it takes time to turn a program around. While Mark Dantonio won nine games in year two, it really wasn't until year four that fans bought in. Give this man some time to build Michigan State back up -- the offense is already lightyears ahead of where it was last season at this time.
The eight wins Smith has secured in his first 15 games as head coach include some impressive ones like at Maryland, Iowa, and Boston College, but fans want to see more.
Well, he could accomplish a "first" with Michigan State this weekend.
Jonathan Smith has yet to beat a ranked team during his time at Michigan State.
— Michigan State Country (@CountryMichSt) September 16, 2025
Will he be able to beat USC on the road for his first ranked win at MSU? pic.twitter.com/yA0kYrqHxz
Smith coached against three ranked teams a season ago, but he lost all three. Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana all got the better of Smith's Spartans in 2024, but he's hoping for better fortune in 2025.
His first ranked opponent will be No. 25 USC on Saturday night. He's familiar with the Trojans, but this team might be slightly better than the ones we've seen over the past 4-5 seasons. USC has the top total offense in the country as well as the No. 2 scoring offense. It's going to be quite the test.
But Smith has a chance to cross another "first" off his list as Michigan State's coach. Will he get his first ranked win as the Spartans' head coach? It would surely shut a lot of doubters up.