Analyzing MSU Players' Snap Counts in Win over Eastern Michigan
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Michigan State's snap counts are in for Week 2.
The Spartans dominated Eastern Michigan in the second half en route to a 35-7 victory and an improvement to 2-0 in the 2026 season. MSU played 31 guys on offense and 20 on defense, according to Pro Football Focus. A few things seem to stand out within the numbers:
More Rotation on Offensive Line
One thing is clear now: Michigan State plans to play more than just its starting five offensive linemen. Some of the substitutions last week against Toledo felt sort of out of necessity because starting left tackle Ben Murawski was out for much of the second half. Murawski was available for Saturday's game against EMU, but that didn't stop some of the lineup shuffling.
Twelve different offensive linemen got into the Eastern Michigan game, though a few players in that group only got in because MSU put in its second-team offense for the final drive of the game. Eight offensive linemen really got into the game for meaningful snaps. The Spartans stuck with their starting lineup of Murawski at left tackle, Conner Moore at left guard, Trent Fraley at center, Nick Sharpe, and Rakeem Johnson at right tackle.
Guard Luka Vincic, tackle Robert Wright Jr., and tackle Antonio Johnson seem to be the backups that the staff has decided are worth carving out snaps for. Johnson has largely been in a specialized role as a sixth offensive lineman. Vincic got 14 snaps in Sharpe's spot at right guard on Saturday. Wright got 38 snaps at right tackle, which were actually the most on the team. Johnson played an additional 18 snaps at left tackle in place of Murawski.
Overall, the offensive line has felt like a minor disappointment so far, though the second half against Eastern Michigan was much better. The unit will need to be much better to be effective against Notre Dame and in the Big Ten, and also be the first competent O-line Michigan State has had in a while.
New Outlook at Nickel
A new battle seems to have also emerged at nickelback. Louisiana Tech transfer Michael Richard was pretty much the unquestioned starter there for the entire offseason, but Richard had some struggles in the season opener against Toledo. One week later, Richard saw his snaps get cut into by fifth-year player NiJhay Burt. Richard's snaps dropped from 42 against the Rockets to just 21 against the Eagles.
Burt is in his second season with the program after transferring in from Eastern Illinois. He only appeared in four games last year in order to preserve a redshirt. Burt only got 11 defensive snaps in 2025 and didn't appear in Michigan State's game against Toledo, but he's apparently shown enough in practice to get 17 snaps on Saturday.
Opportunistic Game for Taplin
You don't often see a team's leading receiver only play eight offensive plays. That's all the time Charles Taplin got on Saturday against Eastern Michigan. He definitely made the most of it, making three catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. His playing meaningful snaps was news in itself, as Taplin was a DNP against Toledo.
Taplin's touchdown, the very first of his collegiate career, was a 38-yard deep ball that pushed the lead to 28-7 and felt like it pretty much sealed the game for MSU in the third quarter. The staff and Courtney Hawkins have liked Taplin's speed, and that was on display there, as he was the first Michigan State receiver this year to catch a pass behind an opposing defense.
Debuts, Some First Looks on Offense
The lopsided score at the end also meant that some backups and reserve pieces got to see some game action at the very end. A list of players who got their first non-special teams snaps includes: wide receiver Samson Gash (10 snaps), wide receiver Braylon Collier (10 snaps), center Drew Nichols (10 snaps), tackle Collin Campbell (three snaps), and running back Zion Gist (three snaps).
Gash and Campbell are both true freshmen and the very first members of MSU's 2026 recruiting class to get non-special teams snaps. Safety Jonathan Granby was the only true freshman to play in the opener; he's been involved on Michigan State's kick coverage team.
Gash's collegiate debut also got to be in front of his brother, Gideon Gash, who is a high-4-star recruit from Detroit Catholic Central. He's verbally committed to Texas Tech right now, but it doesn't seem that the Spartans are giving up on that recruitment after Gideon's surprise visit on Saturday.
Campbell is also a big part of this team's future. He was the top recruit in the Spartans' 2026 class at 197th overall on the 247Sports Composite. It usually takes a bit for offensive linemen to be ready or strong enough to play, so Campbell even carving out a second-team role is a promising start.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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