Michigan State defeats Richmond 45-14 in strong performance by Noah Kim

In a high-scoring outing for the offense, Michigan State improved to 2-0 on the season thanks to a 45-14 victory over Richmond on Saturday in East Lansing. MSU finished the day with 462 total yards and six touchdowns.

After a slow start in the passing game, Noah Kim finished Saturday 18-for-22 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Kim also added 21 yards on six keepers, including a 12 yard long.

Katin Houser connected on his only pass attempt for 11 yards as well.

On the receivers side, Tre Mosley led the way with five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Joining him with scores was Tyneil Hopper and Antonio Gates, Jr. with a score each. Meanwhile the ground attack was led by Nate Carter and his 111 yards on 19 attempts with three touchdowns, including a long of 44 yards that ended in a score.

The defense turned out an impressive stat sheet of its own, holding Richmond to just 193 total yards. The Spiders also had just one third-down conversion on 12 attempts. Zion Young registered 1.5 sacks among his five total tackles, two for loss. Angelo Grose led MSU with seven tackles, two solo. Grose also added 0.5 sacks and one pass break.

The Spartans' offense struggled early on in the matchup. While the defense forced two quick three-and-outs by Richmond, MSU also was forced to quickly punt on its first two drives as well. However, on the second, the returner for the Spiders dropped the ball and the Spartans special teams unit was there to take advantage.

With MSU having recovered the punt thanks to long snapper Hank Pepper, the offense immediately retook the field at Richmond's own 19-yard line.

After finally converting for its first fresh set of downs of the game, the MSU offense took five total plays after the muffed punt recovery and ended with an 11 yard catch by Mosley for the touchdown. The pass was Kim's first completion of the game and on his fourth attempt. A delay of game penalty then forced the PAT to back up an extra five yards, but with 7:26 left in the first quarter it was 7-0 MSU as Jonathan Kim's attempt was still good.

Richmond's offense also finally found a rhythm on its next drive, marching 43 yards until the Spiders opted to go for it on fourth-and-7 at the MSU 32-yard line.

The Spartans continued the momentum on offense into their next drive. Kim began to show more of a rhythm with his receivers as he connected on four of his passing attempts and scrambled on two keepers. A 31 yard pass to Jaron Glover began the second quarter on this drive for MSU and it was capped off by a 13 yard catch by Tyneil Hopper for the touchdown. Kim's PAT was good and it was 14-0 MSU with 13:44 remaining in the half.

After giving up a fresh set of downs to Richmond's offense on the next drive, MSU's defense quickly forced a punt and the Spartans offense again retook the field.

Michigan State was able to move the ball quickly, starting with a monster one-handed catch by Maliq Carr on the opening play of the drive. The catch was reviewed by officials, but the call on the field stood for a Spartan first down.

Just five plays later, MSU had moved to the Richmond 31-yard line and Kim connected with Carr again for another monster catch, this one in the end zone. A holding penalty called against Spencer Brown overturned the touchdown catch and pushed the offense back 10 yards.

The drive stalled after the penalty, but Jonathan Kim was able to salvage it thanks to a 52-yard field goal that bounced off the bottom bar. With 5:17 remaining in the half, MSU extended its lead to 17-0. The kick by Kim was the longest field goal by an MSU kicker since Michael Geiger connected on a 52-yard attempt in 2016 against Michigan.

Richmond's offense managed to get into the red zone on its final drive of the half. The Spiders 14-play drive was extended thanks to a fake punt on fourth-and-10 from its own 44-yard line that used the MSU special teams formation to its advantage. After a 20 yard gain by punter Owen Laughlin, Angelo Grose managed to catch him and bring him down at the MSU 36-yard line.

After eating up five minutes and three seconds of game time, Richmond's drive ended at the MSU 15-yard line without a score after the 32-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright. The Spartan offense took over on downs and kneeled to head into the locker room leading 17-0.

Michigan State made quick work on offense after receiving the kick off to start the half. Using just 2:32 on the clock, Kim connected on three-straight passes for gains of 12, 29, and 15-yards respectively. Carter took over from there for two-straight carries and the touchdown. After the PAT, it was 24-0 Michigan State.

After taking over on its own 37-yard line thanks to a 39 yard punt by Richmond, the Spartan offense again showed it found its rhythm and was firing on all cylinders. Only interrupted by a second down pass by Kim to Christian Fitzpatrick for a 13 yard gain, Carter shouldered the drive on his back for a total of 50 yards.

The final rush was a 44 yard touchdown initially ruled down at the one-yard line. An official review gave Carter the score, and the PAT made it 31-0 for Michigan State.

Michigan State's defense held Richmond to a three-and-out on its next drive, and the MSU offense ended the third quarter the same way it started. After taking over with 6:09 remaining, MSU mounted a nine-play drive that ate up 4:57 off the clock for another touchdown.

Kim also showed his confidence through the air with passes of 18, eight, and 26 yards respectively. Carter added his second score of the day to finish it off on a six yard run into the end zone. The PAT by Kim made it 38-0 MSU.

After the Spartan defense quickly forced a punt to open the fourth quarter, disaster struck for Michigan State, at least in terms of any fan hoping for a shut out. The Spiders' defense was able to knock the ball loose on the opening carry of MSU's drive when Jordon Simmons rushed up the middle.

Aaron Banks was able to recover it for Richmond and march it 47 yards for the scoop and score. The PAT cut Richmond's deficit to 38-7 with 14:36 left in the game.

Michigan State's offense answered in kind on its next drive, though. Starting on its own 31-yard line thanks to a 21 yard return on the kickoff by Montorie Foster, Jr., MSU marched the ball down the field in just six plays for its final score of the game.

In his final drive of the game, Kim finished it off in style with a 45 pass to Antonio Gates, Jr. with 11:33 left on the clock. After the PAT, it was 45-7 Spartans.

The MSU defense forced another punt by Richmond after giving up one first down conversion and Katin Houser was given the reins when the offense retook the field. Starting on its own 15-yard line, MSU suffered yet another fumble early in the drive. This time on its second play, a second-straight rush by Davion Primm resulted in another forced fumble thanks to Richmond's defensive play. A recovery by Quantraill Morris-Walker gave the Spiders the ball just shy of the red zone at MSU's 25-yard line.

The Spiders were able to take advantage of the excellent field position and scored four plays later on a five yard pass to Sean Clarke in the end zone. After the PAT, it was 45-14 Michigan State with 5:16 remaining.

The Spartans offense was able to eat up clock on its last drive, but stalled out at the Richmond 48-yard line and were forced to punt. The Spiders were given just 1:49 left on the clock and time expired on a failed attempt to convert for a fresh set of downs on third-and-8.

Michigan State will return to Spartan Stadium next Saturday when No. 8 Washington visits East Lansing. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Eastern Time with the game being streamed exclusively on Peacock.

Discuss this article in our premium forums by clicking here.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.