Michigan State football had fans a little nervous in the start to their season opener against Central Michigan, going down 7-0 until taking a late 10-7 lead to close out the first half, but the Spartans thoroughly dominated Central Michigan in the second half to win their first game of the year, 31 to 7.
The biggest story going into this game was regarding the quarterback position. There was a lot of chatter this summer about who the starter would be. Noah Kim is the veteran and seemed to be the favorite, but Katin Houser also got some buzz, and true freshman Sam Leavitt also made some noise at the end of camp. However, the Spartans went with Kim, a decision that led to some varied results in this one.
Kim, who finished 18-for-31 with 279 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, clearly has a live arm, and isn’t afraid to throw the deep ball and trust his receivers, which was a lot of fun to watch, but he also missed some easy passes throughout this one, so don’t expect the quarterback situation to be settled quite yet. Katin Houser, the redshirt freshman, got some snaps at the end of this one and will likely get more against Richmond as well.
There were some other great bright spots on the offense in this one, as transfer running back Nathan Carter looked like a beast in this one, rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown.
MSU’s receivers also impressed, with Jaron Glover and Christian Fitzpatrick both getting huge gains through the air, and Maliq Carr and Tyrell Henry added some very impressive touchdown receptions.
The defense also looked strong in this one following a shaky start against the shifty Bert Emanuel Jr., but they shored it up and held the Chippewas to 7 points on the day.
The Spartans will face Richmond next week at 3:30pm ET.
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