Surprising Snap Counts for MSU Football in Week 1 vs. Toledo

The first game of the 2026 football season is in the books for Michigan State.

MSU looked shaky at times in the third and fourth quarters, but the Spartans responded when they needed to in a 30-20 victory over Toledo. Snap counts for individual players are also in (thanks, PFF), and there were a fair number of surprises from Friday night:

Surprisingly High

WR Fredrick Moore: 75 Offensive Snaps (88 Possible)

One of the biggest questions facing Michigan State at the start of the season would be who emerges at wide receiver. Going off the snap counts from Friday's action, it's Rodney Bullard Jr. and Fredrick Moore who seem to be the Spartans' two main options out wide. Both of them played 73 snaps each on Friday, tied for the most among MSU's skill position players (excluding Alessio Milivojevic).

Bullard isn't too much of a stunner. He started during the spring game and seemed to hold down that spot during fall camp. Moore is the surprise here. He was on the field quite a bit during the spring scrimmage, but things were quiet around Moore in the weeks leading up to Friday, which may have been intentional. The Michigan transfer wound up catching three passes, all on consecutive plays, for 25 yards during his Spartan debut.

Michigan State mascot "Sparty" runs with his flag during a football game against Toledo at Spartan Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

OL Antonio Johnson: 5 Offensive Snaps

Another interesting wrinkle Michigan State revealed in its offense was offensive lineman Antonio Johnson. He's listed with jersey No. 54 on the Spartans' roster, but Johnson was out there a couple of times wearing No. 80 to serve as a sixth offensive lineman for a handful of plays.

This was actually Johnson's collegiate debut. He didn't see game action during his true freshman season last year. Three different 2025 recruits for Michigan State who are Orchard Lake St. Mary's products wound up playing on the team's offense Friday, with the others being tight end Jayden Savoury (39 snaps) and wide receiver Bryson Williams (15 snaps).

LB Brady Pretzlaff: 44 Defensive Snaps (45 Possible)

Another surprise was to see linebacker Brady Pretzlaff out there as much as he was. This needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as Jordan Hall was in and out of the game due to injury, and Buffalo transfer Dion Crawford was also unavailable. Alas, Pretzlaff was the second starting linebacker for Michigan State next to Hall on Friday. That means he is at least ahead, for now, of Caleb Wheatland, who has Big Ten starting experience from his time at Maryland.

Pretzlaff also seemed to be effective out there. His five total tackles were tied for the most on the team on Friday. It seems like the former 4-star in-state prospect is finally ready for a big role in the defense this year after missing most of 2025 with an injury.

DT Mikeshun Beeler: 18 Defensive Snaps

One player who took a big step Friday was defensive tackle Mikeshun Beeler. He's a third-year player who hardly saw the field during the 2024 and 2025 seasons at MSU. Beeler had only played seven snaps total across just two appearances. The jump to 18 in Game 1 of Year 3 is notable, and he actually got more time than promising redshirt freshman Derrick Simmons (13 snaps).

Surprisingly Low

WR Charles Taplin: 0 Offensive Snaps

The player who was taking Moore's starting reps during practice was Charles Taplin. Hand up, I had Taplin penciled in as a projected starter leading up to Friday. It wasn't because I wanted to make some grand prediction, but that seemed to be where the staff had things. Well, Taplin wasn't out there at all on Friday, and the reason for that didn't appear to be anything injury-related.

Michigan State said it would have a rotation at wide receiver, but it didn't rotate quite as much as I might've thought. Five receivers saw action on offense on Friday: Moore, Bullard, Chrishon McCray (69 snaps), Bryson Williams (15 snaps), and KK Smith (11 snaps). It's also worth noting that 4-star freshman Samson Gash was unavailable on Friday due to an injury.

TE Carson Gulker: 1 Offensive Snap

It's going to be at least another week before MSU's most unique player gets unleashed. Ferris State transfer Carson Gulker -- a quarterback, H-back, and tight end all rolled up into one guy --- was the most mysterious part of the Spartans' offense. He didn't play in the spring scrimmage, so this was supposed to be the first real glimpse at what Gulker would provide.

He was out there for one play, and it was a run. Not exactly a big, grand reveal. Perhaps offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and Michigan State want to keep Gulker under wraps until Notre Dame. Still, just one snap for Gulker was a surprise.

Postgame Analysis

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