The first tally is in the win column to start the season, and Michigan State football has some kinks to work out before facing Boston College in Week 2.
Before we can focus on the next game, we're still talking about the fallout from the Western Michigan win.
On Sunday, two days after the Spartans secured that season-opening win, Jonathan Smith named his players of the game against Western Michigan. He gave the game ball after the win to new athletic director J Batt, but if he had a few more to hand out, he would have given it to the guys below.
Players of the Game in our victory over Western Michigan! Go Green! pic.twitter.com/dwrcXYMTEG
— Jonathan Smith (@Coach_Smith) August 31, 2025
Jordan Hall was the defensive player of the game, Makhi Frazier was the offensive player of the game, Alex VanSumeren was the lineman of the game, and both Ryan Eckley and Caleb Gash stood out as special teams players of the game. All of these choices were correct.
Hall was the best defensive player on the field on Friday, leading the Spartans in tackles, and he was a vocal leader who you could tell his teammates believe in. Frazier notched his first 100-yard game in his first career start, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. VanSumeren dominated the line of scrimmage and was a major reason the Spartans shut down the Broncos on the ground. And Eckley was elite at flipping the field, and Gash had two massive hits on kickoffs.
All of these choices were the right ones, and any of them deserved the game ball for how they played in the opener.