Week One for Michigan State football was — well, sloppy, ugly, stagnant and a humbling reminder that a good thing takes time. Ultimately, the Spartans were able to defeat Florida Atlantic, 16-10, however.
MSU sophomore Aidan Chiles looked like a quarterback making his first start — because he was. The offense struggled against the Owls and Chiles took responsibility for it, although it wasn't all on him. MSU looked somewhat raw — because it still is, as it works under a new coaching staff and has 60-plus new faces on the roster.
The great thing about underwhelming games early in the season, is that teams get plenty of opportunities to prove they have more than what was previously showen, and plenty of room to grow.
Saturday’s Week Two matchup, and kickoff to the 2024 Big Ten season, isn’t the type of “get right” opponent Power Four teams often see early on in the campaign, as the Spartans travel to College Park to play the Maryland Terrapins, led by Mike Locksley in his sixth year as head coach. It will be a challenge for the Spartans.
Maryland finds itself as a program looking to take that next step, after finishing 8-5 (4-5 in the Big Ten) last season, and has won three bowl games in a row, which is the first time the program has accomplished that in its history. In Week One, the Terps showed signs of it, dominating a lowly UConn team by a final score of 50-7 in an impressive outing.
The Terrapins are about nine-point favorites against MSU. Maryland bring a variety of weapons on the offensive end, returning arguably its best wide receiver of last season in Tai Felton, and leading rusher in Roman Hemby. Those two combined for three scores in Week One against the Huskies.
Let's take a look at the matchup in more detail.
2024 statistics review (through one game):
Michigan State:
-Record: 1-0 (0-0 in Big Ten)
-Offense: 293 total yards, 114 passing yards, 179 rushing yards
-Defense: 248 total yards allowed, 116 passing yards allowed, 132 rushing yards allowed
-Third-down offense: 23.08%
-Third-down defense: 13.33%
-Cumulative Points Scored: 16
-Cumulative Points Allowed: 10
Maryland:
-Record: 1-0 (0-0 Big Ten)
-Offense: 629 total yards, 381 passing yards, 248 rushing yards
-Defense: 310 total yards allowed, 222 passing yards allowed, 88 rushing yards allowed
-Third-down offense: 37.5%
-Third-down defense: 31.25%
-Cumulative Points Scored: 50
-Cumulative Points Allowed: 7
-Michigan State: 83rd in FBS
-Maryland: 36th in FBS
Series History/All-Time Records
All-time head-to-head record: Michigan State leads 10-4
-Current streak: Maryland has a two-game win streak
-Last Michigan State win: Nov. 13, 2021 (40-21, MSU)
-Last Maryland win: Sept. 23, 2023 (31-9, Maryland)
-Michigan State all-time record: 730-487-44 (.597)
-Maryland all-time record:: 678-624-43 (.520)
Uniform Watch
Maryland:
Maryland releases all of its game uniforms at the beginning of the season, and it looks like the the Terps will have the second full season with their “Script Terps” uniforms at home.
The Terrapins will have white helmets, red jersey and white pants against the Spartans on Saturday. It will be UMD's only home game this season featuring white helmets.
Michigan State:
MSU is going with the all-white away uniforms for its 2024 Big Ten openers. That will mean that of the six possible combinations of helmet, jerseys and pants combined with both teams, five of the six items will be white I am curious to see how that looks in real time.
Key Matchups:
Maryland’s offensive line versus Michigan State's front seven:
MSU recorded seven sacks (second most of any FBS team), 10 tackles for loss and two interceptions in its Week One contest against Florida Atlantic. Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi and defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa should be optimistic at the opportunity for MSU’s front seven to exploit a reworked Maryland offensive line.
Maryland's top-five linemen in games started from the 2023 season all departed, leading to the Terrapins bringing in eight freshman and four transfer offensive lineman during the offseason. With three offensive lineman drafted in the last two years, Locksley’s focus on winning in the trenches is becoming a staple of the program. UMD's starters versus UConn were Andre Roy Jr., Isaac Bunyun, Josh Kaltenberger, Alan Herron and Aliou Bah.
With a fresh group up front, MSU’s ability to get pressure on redshirt junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. will be necessary to compete in this game.
Michigan State's offense versus Maryland’s veteran defensive line and overall defense
Maryland’s defense ranked sixth in the conference last season in rushing yards allowed per game (125.5) and fourth in sacks (34), and returns nearly every starter from last year's defensive line. This line is anchored by Quashon Fuller, Tommy Akingbesote and Jordan Phillips.
Maryland ranked 31st last season in total yards allowed per game, and after a disappointing Week One for the MSU offense, the challenge only gets more difficult Saturday. Aidan Chiles was, to put frankly, disappointing in his Spartan debut. Errant passes and poor timing with his receivers led to completing just 10 out of 24 completions, for 114 yards, with two interceptions. He’ll need to grow up fast, work through his progressions, step into throws, make better decisions, and when the pocket collapses, use his legs to extend plays. Chiles is still very young and growing pains are to be expected. Chiles was the first to admit he needs to play better, and if the Spartans are to find any success this season, he knows he has to improve. He can't do it alone, though,
I think most important in his development perhaps, is Chiles finding his safety valve or go-to-guy. Whether that is tight end Jack Velling, or wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. or perhaps even true freshman wide receiver Nick Marsh down the line (who’s role could grow with Alante Brown injured, but who will also need time to develop). Having a go-to option when you're under duress should let Chiles more comfortably see the field.
In Week One, MSU had seven different players record a catch, Foster and tight end Michael Masunas were the only two Spartans to have multiple receptions. Look for offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren and head coach Jonathan Smith to try to establish a “core” group of receivers targeted, and designed plays to get the ball to playmakers.
Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton versus Michigan State secondary
Maryland's receiving touchdown leader of 2023 (six), got his 2024 campaign off to a hot start in Week one against UConn, posting a stat line of seven catches, 178 yards and two touchdowns.
His big frame (6-foot-2, 186 pounds) poses the first test for this MSU secondary, one of many challenges that the Big Ten slate will provide for MSU this season.
Week One left the once deep MSU secondary, suddenly thin with the injuries of defensive backs Dillon Tatum and Khalil Majeed, both potentially season-ending.
Charles Brantley, Ed Woods, Chance Rucker, Nikai Martinez, Angelo Grose, Malik Spencer and the rest of the MSU secondary will have their hands full to slow down the pass friendly offense once led by Taulia Tagovailoa, and now headed by Edwards Jr. Another wide receiver to watch for Maryland is Kaden Prather, who had six catches for 60 yards in the season opener.
If the Spartans can stay disciplined, and give the defensive line enough time to get in the backfield, some coverage sacks will help to slow down the Terrapins.
Game Info:
-Date/Kickoff Time: Saturday, Sept. 7, 3:40 p.m. Eastern Time
-TV Channel: Big Ten Network
-TV Announcers: Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play), Anthony Herron (analyst), Kylen Mills (sideline)
-Radio: Spartan Media Network
-Radio Play-by-Play Announcer: George Blaha
-Radio Analyst: Jason Strayhorn
-Radio Sidelines: Jehuu Caulcrick
-Radio Broadcast Host: Will Tieman
-Location: College Park, Maryland
-Stadium: SECU Stadium (54,000 capacity)
-Weather Expectations: Partly cloudy with temperature settling around 68 degrees at kickoff. Partly cloudy with chance of precipitation near kickoff. Eight mile-per-hour winds, with gusts up to 25 miles per hour.
Final Thoughts:
If Michigan State wants to compete in this game, the Spartans need to demonstrate possibly a season's worth of maturity in merely a week. What I mean by that is that Michigan State's young players and newcomers, especially Chiles but others as well, must step up and show improvement from a lackluster Week One performance.
Meanwhile, this is Maryland's 10th year in the Big Ten, (a decade sure goes fast), and with newcomers entering the fold, the Terrapins aren’t the conference “newbie” anymore, and are probably happy to shed their spring chicken feathers. They aim to prove they are a big time football program, hungry to prove their place amongst the upper tier of the BIg Ten.
Now for Michigan State, the Spartans simply just need to show discipline, and trust that the work they put in this offseason, and lessons taken from Week One is enough.
With a week of watching film, Chiles will likely look better — he’s too talented, too hard-working and too smart of a kid not to do so. Additionally the run game will need to improve, and it isn't just on the offensive line to create gaps, MSU’s tandem of Nate Carter and Kay’ron Lynch-Adams will have to showcase their vision and find, or create, running lanes. Lynch-Adams looked strong last week, Carter struggled and the offensive line was inconsistent.
If the MSU defense can be as good as it looked against Florida Atlantic, and the offense can prove it is not the version it showed against FAU, this game will be much closer than the predicted nine-point spread.
It is very early in the 2024 season, but this is already an important benchmark game. The Terrapins will be ready to play hard. This game will either make Spartan fans forget about the underwhelming performance in Week One, or prove the wounds exposed in game one require more than just a bandaid.
