The first game week of the Pat Fitzgerald era is officially upon us and the first-year Spartan head coach is busy preparing for Friday’s Michigan State vs. Toledo opener.
Fitzgerald took some time on Monday for his first game week presser of his Michigan State career and previewed the upcoming game, showering Toledo with praise. Fitzgerald spoke highly of the Rockets and called them a perennial MAC contender while also saying that it’s a storied program.
Although Jason Candle is gone, Toledo is going to remain near the top of the MAC every season just based on the fact that it’s one of the top programs in the conference and has been for years.
Fitzgerald also said that this is not going to be an easy game, and he’s well aware of that.
Vegas agrees.
In fact, according to DraftKings, the line is moving ever-so-slightly in the Rockets’ favor which is causing some uneasiness within the Spartan fanbase, especially after Fitz’s comments.
The line is now in the single-digits after opening at -10.5 in favor of Michigan State.
Line: Michigan State -9.5
Over/Under: 47.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -395 | Toledo +310
Because it’s moving in Toledo’s direction, that means that the early money is coming in on the Rockets to cover. The line started at 10.5 and now it’s slowly moving into the single-digits and it could be around a touchdown by Friday night at this pace.
Michigan State fans should feel fairly confident in Fitzgerald and Co. to get the job done against a first-year head coach and a bunch of transfers, but bettors aren’t nearly as certain.
It wouldn’t be a Michigan State season opener without a little stress
Michigan State fans know all too well how ugly season openers can be, especially under brand-new coaching staffs or while breaking in new quarterbacks.
A year ago, Michigan State won a sleepy matchup against Western Michigan 23-6 to open the season before stumbling to a 4-8 campaign. In 2024, FAU kept it way too close against the Spartans in Jonathan Smith’s first-ever game as head coach in East Lansing. The 16-10 win didn’t exactly instill confidence in the new coaching staff.
In Mel Tucker’s first-ever game as head coach, his Spartans lost at home to Rutgers 38-27 in what can only be remembered as “the turnover game” — Michigan State lost five fumbles and threw two interceptions in the loss.
Throughout the Mark Dantonio era as well, there were several season opening clunkers:
2008: 38-31 loss at Cal
2013: 26-13 win vs. Western Michigan
2015: 37-24 win at Western Michigan
2016: 28-13 win vs. Furman
2018: 38-31 win vs. Utah State
2019: 28-7 win vs. Tulsa
All of those games felt a little disappointing given the expectations of those seasons and it’s up to Fitzgerald to have his guys ready so they don’t come out flat in the first game of a new era like the Spartans did in Year 1 of both Tucker and Smith.
If the line is any indication of what we can expect, Friday night could be a little stressful.
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