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Home opener being on a Friday is perfect for Michigan State football

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith walks to the sideline during the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith walks to the sideline during the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA
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On Thursday, Michigan State football announced that it would hold its season opener against FAU on Friday night of Labor Day Weekend.

And the fanbase was more than happy.

The Spartans have opened the season on Friday night for years so when it was announced last week that their only two Friday games this season would be against Purdue and Oregon. Fans were disappointed because late-season Friday night games felt more high school-like and it was unfortunate that the opener of a holiday weekend was on a Saturday still so the attendance could actually be negatively affected.

If the game remained on Saturday, the attendance may have taken a hit due to fans being up north and on vacation for the last weekend of the summer.

Now, the stadium should be packed to kick off the Jonathan Smith era. He'll be welcomed to 75,000 fans to kick off a holiday weekend and the start of his Spartan tenure. Michigan State will also be one of the first games of the season and it'll likely be nationally televised so the more exposure, the better for recruiting.

Michigan State enters this new era with a brand-new roster with 24 transfers coming in and a few dozen on the way out. The Spartans also have 21 incoming freshman. The new-look team will be led by Aidan Chiles at quarterback and the defense should be worlds better under Joe Rossi.

I don't know about you (this is not betting advice), but I'm throwing the mortgage on Michigan State -11 in the opener over FAU. That Friday can't come soon enough.

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