This weekend, the Michigan State football program will face a school it has never played against before. MSU will host the Richmond Spiders out of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ranks on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Spartan Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

The Spartans are 7-0 all-time versus FCS opponents. Michigan State last played an FCS foe in 2021, which ended in a 42-14 victory over Youngstown State.

Richmond won a FCS national championship in 2008. In 2022, Richmond made the FCS playoffs and won its opening round game against Davidson, 41-0, before narrowly losing to Sacramento State, 38-31, in the second round. However, the 2023 season got off to a rocky start for the Spiders.

Michigan State started the 2023 season 1-0 with a 31-7 win against Central Michigan last week, while Richmond's season opener ended in a disappointing 17-10 loss at home versus Morgan State, which dropped the Spiders to 0-1.

Obviously Michigan State will enter this game as a heavy favorite (whenever a betting line is made available) and should win this game handily against an FCS opponent, but can Richmond show some fight?

Let's take a look at the matchup in more detail.

Michigan State:

-Record: 1-0 (0-0 in Big Ten)
-Offense: 406 total yards, 279 passing yards, 127 rushing yards
-Defense: 219 total yards allowed, 96 passing yards allowed, 123 rushing yards allowed
-Third-down offense: 38.46%
-Third-down defense: 18.75%
-Cumulative Points Scored: 31 (31.0 per game)
-Cumulative Points Allowed: 7 (7.0 per per game)

Richmond

-Record: 0-1 (0-0 in FCS' Coastal Athletic Association)
-Offense: 264 total yards, 169 passing yards, 95 rushing yards
-Defense: 213 total yards allowed, 99 passing yards allowed, 114 rushing yards allowed
-Third-down offense: 25.0%
-Third-down defense: 30.77%
-Cumulative Points Scored: 10 (10.0 per game)
-Cumulative Points Allowed: 17 (17.0 per game)

Current SP+ rankings:

-Michigan State: 47th in FBS
-Richmond: 33rd in FCS

-All-time head-to-head record: 0-0, first-ever meeting between the schools on Saturday
-Current streak: N/A
-Last Michigan State win: N/A
-Last Richmond win: N/A
-Michigan State all-time record: 727-479-44 (.599)
-Richmond all-time record: 574-667-53 (.464)

Michigan State:

Michigan State will rock a similar look to last week, with a slight tweak. This Saturday, MSU will go with white helmets, green jerseys with white numbering and lettering, and white pants.

The only notable difference from last week is that MSU went with green helmets, while also wearing green jerseys and white pants, for its season opener versus CMU.

Read more details about Michigan State's Week Two look from Spartans Illustrated guest contributor "@msu_uniforms" here.

Richmond:

If the tweet below is any indication, it appears Richmond will go with an all white look, accompanied by blue and red accents throughout the uniform.

Michigan State 31, Central Michigan 7

It was a slow start for Michigan State, but the Spartans ultimately walked away with a dominating 31-7 victory over Central Michigan.

Neither team scored until deep into the second quarter when kicker Jonathan Kim nailed a 47-yard field goal for the Spartans' first points of the 2023 season, giving MSU a 3-0 advantage.

However, CMU would answer late in the second quarter when quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. hit wide receiver Chris Parker for a seven-yard touchdown pass. That would be the first and last time the Chippewas scored, though.

Michigan State's offense finally came to life after Central Michigan's touchdown, thanks to the connection between quarterback Noah Kim and wide receiver Jaron Glover. Following two receptions of 30-plus yards for Glover, MSU's offense was set up at the 2-yard line. Running back Nathan Carter punched it into the end zone from there, and the Spartans took a 10-7 lead just before halftime and never looked back.

The second half was all Spartans, as MSU outscored CMU 21-0 in the final 30 minutes. The defense was dominant throughout. Running back Jalen Berger scored a 12-yard rushing touchdown, and Noah Kim threw two touchdowns, with wide receiver Tyrell Henry and tight end Maliq Carr each having a touchdown reception.

Read the full game recap here.

Morgan State 17, Richmond 10

Richmond went into this game as a 25.5-point favorite at home, yet lost to Morgan State by a final score of 17-10.

The Spiders jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after quarterback Kyle Wickersham took it into the end zone himself on a one-yard touchdown run. The Bears would answer immediately, though, when Morgan State quarterback Carson Baker scored a one-yard touchdown run of his own to tie things up at 7-7.

The next score didn't come until near the end of the third quarter, with Richmond kicker Andrew Lopez putting the Spiders up 10-7 on a 28-yard field goal. Morgan State's Beckett Leary later answered with a 38-yard field goal of his own to tie the game at 10-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Later in the fourth quarter, Wickersham was sacked and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Bears at Richmond's 10-yard line. One play later, Jabriel Jackson scored a 10-yard rushing touchdown. Morgan State took a 17-10 lead and held on from there.

This was a sloppy game with seven combined turnovers, including the Spiders giving the ball away four times (three fumbles lost and an interception). Losing the turnover battle played a big role in the Spiders' loss.

-Kyle Wickersham versus Michigan State defense: Much like last week against Central Michigan, Michigan State's entire defense will need to be aware of the quarterback as Wickersham rushed 21 times for 70 yards and a touchdown against Morgan State. He also completed 23 of 30 passes (76.7%) for 169 yards, but had an interception. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Wickersham is not afraid to lower his shoulder and pick up tough yardage on the ground. Michigan State cornerback Dillon Tatum praised Wickersham earlier this week and preached the importance of communication for the defense. Wickersham had two giveaways last week and the Spiders had four turnovers in total, so the Spartans will look to go after the ball. Getting pressure on Wickersham, but also keeping him contained when he runs is going to be crucial in this one, and of course the defensive backs need to do their job in pass coverage.

-Ja'Vion Griffin/Nick DeGennaro/Quanye Veney vs. Michigan State secondary: Each of these three receivers caught at least three passes against Morgan State, with DeGennaro leading the way with six receptions for 46 yards. However, Griffin was the only one to average double-digit yards per catch (three receptions for 42 yards, 14.0 yards per catch) and Richmond didn't have a touchdown through the air. Griffin was somebody who Michigan State secondary coach Harlon Barnett singled out earlier this week because he has a lot of speed. In fact, Griffin owns the Riverside-Martin High School (North Carolina) record for the 200-meter run. There is a talent in this group, but this is a matchup that the MSU defensive backfield should dominate. Last week, the players in the secondary weren't particularly challenged downfield, but they looked notably stronger, more physical and smart in coverage. I'm not sure that Richmond's 2023 passing attack will put a lot of fear in the Spartans, but another strong showing from MSU's secondary would be promising heading into the more difficult part of the schedule.

-Michigan State's defensive line versus Richmond's offensive line: The Spiders allowed five sacks last week. That does not bode well for Richmond's offensive line this week, having to go arguably against Michigan State's best and deepest position in the defensive line. The Spartans recorded three sacks and 10 tackles for loss last week. Michigan State also held Central Michigan to just 123 rushing yards and 219 total yards as well. MSU players like Simeon Barrow, Derrick Harmon, Jalen Sami, Maverick Hansen, Dre Butler and other should dominate in the interior of the trenches. Meanwhile, players like Zion Young and Tunmise Adeleye can play outside and inside, and Khris Bogle, Avery Dunn, Brandon Wright and others will look to cause havoc off the edge.

-Date/Kickoff Time: Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:40 p.m. Eastern Time
-TV Channel: Big Ten Network
-TV Announcers: Chris Vosters (play-by-play), Matt Millen (analyst), Dannie Rogers (analyst)
-Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
-Weather Expectations: Sunny with temperatures around 71 degrees at kickoff, winds blowing north/northeast around five to six miles per hour
-Current Line: N/A as of time of publish, but Spartans Illustrated's Paul Fanson projects a line of MSU -26

Michigan State has respect for all opponents, as it should. Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker had a lot of praise for the Richmond program when he spoke earleir this week.

“Richmond is a really good team,” Tucker said. “They’ve been in the playoffs the last few years. They’ve played a lot of good football. We’re just working to improve and prepare like crazy for this game. We expect to have a better football team this weekend.”

In 2022, Richmond averaged 424.1 yards per game and 31.3 points per game, which both ranked third in the Coastal Athletic Association. As mentioned, this was a playoff team last year. Barnett noted that Richmond has used some spread concepts on offense in the past, but that the Spiders didn't show a lot of that in the 2023 season-opening loss to Morgan State. This appears to be a whole new team this year that is working in a new quarterback in Wickersham.

If we are being completely honest, this game is not going to be competitive. First games are hard to judge, but Richmond's loss to Morgan State at home more than likely means the Spiders will be in for a long afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

There are some very talented individual players at the FCS level, but in this one, Michigan State's talent advantage as a full team is likely going to be noticeable from the opening snap. I do expect Richmond to be motivated for this one and try to prove that it can play with an FBS team, but I'm not sure how long the Spiders will be able to compete.

Expect Michigan State to run away with this game and get a lot of players game reps throughout the contest. The most important thing for the Spartans is to get out of this one healthy.

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