Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players

Michigan State College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know

Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Michigan State season with what you need to know and keys to the season.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Michigan State Spartans Preview
Head Coach: Mel Tucker, 3rd year at Michigan State, 13-7
4th year overall, 18-14, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 11-2, Conference: 7-2
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan State Top 10 Players
Michigan State Schedule & Analysis

Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022

As the man said, you are what your record says you are.

Michigan State was 11-2 in Mel Tucker’s second season with the program. It beat Michigan for the second year in a row, it beat Penn State, and it went on to beat Pitt in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Give Tucker and the Spartans all the credit for finding a way to get it done. You don’t luck your way into 11 wins and a New Year’s Six win, but …

Beating Miami wasn’t that big a deal, the schedule was loaded with layups until late October, the Spartans got a few massive breaks against Michigan, go totally annihilated by Ohio State and walloped by Purdue, got Penn State – and Michigan – in East Lansing, and Pitt not having Kenny Pickett turned out to be a gigantic deal. And …

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 – and doing it with the nation’s worst pass defense and the worst overall D in the Big Ten.

This time around the Spartans get Wisconsin and Minnesota from the West. They have to go on the road to Michigan and Penn State, going to Maryland will be tough, and going to Washington won’t be a breeze. Fortunately, Tucker just upgraded his team to be a whole lot better for what’s coming.

Most teams get guys from the transfer portal to fill holes. Tucker and Michigan State got stars, with at least eight about to play major roles at an all-star level.

Combine the new guys with an already terrific base that was rudely snubbed by the Big Ten all-star types, and continue with the attitude of being disrespected in its own division in the preseason prognostications, and there’s a great blend of things happening.

There’s no down time here, and there’s no grace period. The great strength of the Mark Dantonio was the consistency – his teams found ways to get the job done, too. Now it’s up to Tucker and his Spartans to not only show that same high-level consistency, but to take it up a few notches.

11-2 last year? A whole lot of things went right. Go 11-2 this year? Then the record will really and truly show what Michigan State football is.

Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan State Top 10 Players
Michigan State Schedule & Analysis

Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022: Offense, Defense Breakdown

Michigan State Spartans Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 Michigan State players going into the 2022 college football season?

Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Michigan State Spartans Preview
Michigan State Preview
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan State Schedule & Analysis 

 

 

 

 

Michigan State Spartans: CFN College Football Preview 2021

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, looking ahead to the Michigan State football season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Michigan State football season with what you need to know.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Michigan State Schedule Analysis
– Michigan State Spartans Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

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2020 Record: 2-5 overall, 2-5 in Big Ten
Head Coach: Mel Tucker, 2nd year, 2-5 (7-12 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 40
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 57
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 57

Michigan State Spartans College Football Preview 2021: Offense

Well that didn’t work. It’s been a while since Michigan State did much of anything interesting offensively, and the first season under head coach Mel Tucker and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson didn’t do much to change that.

To be very, very fair, the Spartans and the new coaching staff didn’t have any time to work like normal, and there was a whole lot that had to be changed after a rough 2019, and a rough 2018, and after scoring fewer than 300 points in three of the previous four seasons.

The 2020 Spartans were dead last in the Big Ten in yards and scoring, averaging 330 yards and 18 points per game, but for good or for bad, everyone is back except at …

Quarterback. Rocky Lombardi threw a whole lot of interceptions – 11 over the last two years for a passing game that gave up 41 over the last three seasons; more on that later – and now he’ll be taking his talents to Northern Illinois.

In comes Anthony Russo from Temple who also throws a lot of interceptions. However, he’s a big pro style passer who can push the ball deep. He’ll have to fight off veteran backup Payton Thorne – who threw three touchdowns and three picks – for the gig.

On the plus side, the receiving corps should be solid. Jayden Reed and Jalen Nailor are 6-0, 185-pound juniors who can move. Nailor averaged close to 20 yards per catch, Reed led the team with 33 catches, and Ricky White averaged 22 yards on his ten grabs. The pass catchers are there – that includes the underutilized tight ends.

The offense line struggled. It didn’t do much for the running game and had a hard time keeping defenses out of the backfield. However, there’s good size, plenty of options, and all five starters are expected to  be back.

The running back situation got better with the addition of Kenneth Walker from Wake Forest – a 1,000-yard back who ran for 13 touchdowns last season – along with 231-pound blaster Harold Joiner from Auburn.

The combination of Jordon Simmons, Connor Heyward and Elijah Collins also returns, but they only combined for 509 yards last year and ran for as many touchdowns as you did. There’s talent, though – Collins had a great 2019 and the rest of the backs would be fine with better blocking.

– What You Need To Know: Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Michigan State Schedule Analysis

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