Grading Each MSU Position Group Entering Week 2 vs. EMU
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One game is now in the books for Michigan State.
The Spartans played about as expected in their season opener against Toledo, winning 30-20. With that first game in mind, let's grade where each position group stands entering Week 2 against Eastern Michigan:
Quarterback: B+
MSU got a calm and collected performance from starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic against the Rockets. He threw for 247 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers during his fifth career start and the first of his redshirt sophomore season. The lack of a successful deep shot is one concern, but head coach Pat Fitzgerald said after the game that Toledo's safeties playing so high had a lot to do with that.
It's admirable that Milivojevic didn't force anything, then. Plenty of younger quarterbacks would've wanted to force it downfield -- this was a recurring issue with Aidan Chiles the previous two seasons -- but Milivojevic largely took what Toledo gave him while still delivering a few impressive throws from intermediate range. Michigan State also gave backup quarterback Cam Fancher a snap during a designed run, which gained three yards.
Running Back: A-
MSU's depth at running back made it easy to guess the Spartans would lean heavily on the run this season. Things felt pretty run-first during Michigan State's season opener, with star back and UConn transfer Cam Edwards getting 27 carries. Edwards finished with 98 rushing yards, a touchdown, and 3.6 yards per rush, but it felt like he was even better than that.
Jaziun Patterson and Marvis Parrish, two more transfers from Iowa and Western Kentucky, also got a lot of playing time. Patterson got seven rushes for 23 yards, and Parrish had six carries for 28 yards. Brandon Tullis and Kenneth Williams didn't get a touch last Friday, but they did get two offensive snaps apiece.
Wide Receivers: C
Wide receiver seemed like a slight concern on Friday night. Rodney Bullard Jr. emerged as a top target, especially on MSU's huge eight-point drive in the fourth after Toledo had taken the lead. Starting slot receiver Chrishon McCray also played well.
Beyond that, though, the room as a whole felt pretty "meh." It didn't feel like the receivers consistently found separation at the line of scrimmage. The safeties being far back ties into this too, but Milivojevic only tried one deep ball all game, which is a concern. More needs to be shown against Eastern Michigan.
Tight Ends: B
Michigan State's tight end group was also pretty serviceable. Brennan Parachek got the start, but second-year Jayden Savoury looked like the best tight end on the team during Friday's game. He caught four passes for 36 yards during the first game of his college career, where he truly got a significant share of the snaps. Savoury's potential is extremely high, and he was a clear winner during training camp.
Kai Rios also got some playing time as a blocking tight end. The big remaining question is Carson Gulker, who only got into one offensive play during Week 1. Is that because he's not good enough to play, or is the coaching staff keeping his unique skill set hidden for now? We'll see in the next few weeks.
Offensive Line: C
The offensive line was also a slight disappointment on Friday. Center Trent Fraley played pretty well, but Michigan State failed to get a significant push at the LOS and open up running lanes against a MAC team. They will need to improve there quickly before the Big Ten season starts and competition stiffens.
Defensive Line: B+
The defensive line was a bit more of a pleasant surprise. Interior defensive lineman Eli Coenen, a transfer from Illinois, really stood out on tape, and Fitzgerald named him the team's first Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. Rush end Kenny Soares Jr., an NC State transfer, also had an interception, and defensive end Keahnist Thompson, a transfer from Weber State, also had a solid Spartan debut.
Another welcome sign was Mikeshun Beeler's performance. He had barely played through his first two seasons with the program, but he got the third-most snaps among Michigan State's defensive tackles on Friday and played well. Having him as another solid option at defensive tackle makes the overall outlook there much more optimistic.
Linebackers: A-
Brady Pretzlaff was another surprise contributor (and starter!) from Friday's game. He had appeared to be firmly in backup territory behind Hall, Caleb Wheatland, and Dion Crawford, but Pretzlaff was on the field for all but one defensive snap against Toledo. Crawford was out with an injury, but defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said Wednesday that Pretzlaff won the job straight up.
Cornerbacks: B-
MSU's cornerbacks did fine last Friday on a down-by-down basis. The big mistake, though, was Charles Brantley falling for a double move by Toledo's Adjatay Dabbs, the Rockets' best deep threat, and giving up a 60-yard touchdown.
Iowa State transfer Tre Bell and Houston Christian transfer Tyran Chappell both had positive performances. Bell also allowed a touchdown, but it was in the red zone and simply a "good defense, better offense" type of play.
Safeties: B-
It's a similar story with the safeties. Overall, things seemed fine. But the 71-yard touchdown run Michigan State allowed during the fourth quarter happened because Devin Vaught filled the same gap occupied by Soares. Vaught did have a nice play earlier in the game, where he quickly filled the right gap on a 3rd-and-1 stop.
Nikai Martinez didn't get noticed much on Friday, which is probably a good thing when discussing a defensive back.
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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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