Nathan Carter will be Michigan State football's next 1,000-yard rusher in 2024

A year ago, Nate Carter looked like he was going to cruise to 1,000 yards, becoming Michigan State football's first 1,000-yard rusher since Kenneth Walker III in 2021.

Carter had three 100-yard games in his first five as a Spartan and he also had a fourth game in which he came just three yards shy of 100 yards. Basically, he was running for 100, or so, yards every game through the first month, but then October rolled around and the offense fell off a cliff.

The offensive line regressed, quarterback play was as shaky as it's ever been, and the Spartans couldn't seem to put points on the board. They averaged just 12 points per game in October and Carter had just 134 total yards and no touchdowns in three games. And it wasn't his fault.

Things didn't get any better in November as Michigan State averaged just 11 points per game and he had just 189 yards and no touchdowns in four games. He hadn't scored a touchdown in over two months and the last time he averaged over 5.0 yards per attempt in a game was in September. Again, though, not all his fault.

Now, with Jim Michalczik in charge of the offensive line and Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams behind Carter in the backfield, there's a good chance we see improvement in the run game.

And not just a slight improvement, but he might just end up being one of the best running backs in the Big Ten and Michigan State's next 1,000-yard rusher. He'll have pressure off of him with a solid backup and one of the more improved lines in the Big Ten this season. He's going to show just why everyone was excited about him being K9 lite.

While he might not be a Doak Walker Award winner like Walker was, I think we're going to see Carter live up to that potential and put up some big numbers in 2024.