The Michigan State football program has a long history of excellent special teams play, but the 2022 season, particularly in the kicking game, was a struggle.
With that said, Michigan State brought in several new kickers this offseason, and returned one from last year's roster. A kicking competition has taken place throughout fall camp, but head coach Mel Tucker did not want to reveal the starting placekicker when speaking to media earlier this week.
Long snapping was also a problem last fall, as starter Hank Pepper missed several games due to an ailment, however he returns healthy in 2023. The Spartans also added junior college product Drew Wilson at the position this summer.
The punting game was fantastic with Bryce Baringer last season, but the 2022 Big Ten Punter of the Year has moved on to the NFL after being drafted by the New England Patriots in April. MSU will usher in a new punter this season.
As Spartans Illustrated continues its positional previews, let's break down the specialists on Michigan State's 2023 roster a little bit further.
While this article is specifically looking at kickers, punters, and long snappers, it is important to note that sophomore wide receiver Tyrell Henry is expected to handle kick return duties once again in 2023, but others, such as senior Nebraska transfer wide receiver Alante Brown, could be in the mix for kick and punt returns as well.
Punter
Ryan Eckley, redshirt freshman
Eckley arrived in East Lansing in the January of 2022 and saw action in just one game last season, preserving his redshirt. Against Akron in Week Two, he made his first collegiate appearance, notching a 41-yard punt on his lone attempt.
Prior to college, Eckley earned third-team all-state honors in Class 8A by FloridaHSFootball.com as a three-year starting kicker and punter on the varsity team at Newsome High School (Lithia, Florida, southeast of Tampa).
As a senior in high school, Eckley averaged 42.6 yards per punt, placing 13 inside the 20-yard-line, while punting 28 times for a total of 1,193 yards. He also averaged 55.6 yards per kickoff, including 36 touchbacks on 51 attempts. Finally, he scored 52 points, a career high, on 28-of-32 point-after-touchdowns (PATs) and 8-of-10 field goal attempts.
Eckley will battle for the staring role this season. More on his competition below.
Michael O'Shaughnessy, redshirt senior
An Ohio State transfer, O'Shaughnessy joins the Spartans' roster as a graduate transfer hoping to take over the starting job in East Lansing. A five-star prospect and ranked the No. 18 punter in the class of 2019 by Chris Sailer Kicking, O'Shaughnessy hails from New Albany, Ohio and redshirted his first season with OSU.
O'Shaughnessy did not play in any games during the 2020 season as a redshirt freshman, but made his collegiate debut in Columbus against Maryland on Oct. 9, 2021. He did not have any punt attempts in the matchup, however. He has one attempt on his career as a Buckeye, a 41-yard touchback against Rutgers on Oct. 1 during his 2022 redshirt junior season.
O'Shaughnessy will hope to beat out Eckley and handle punting duties this season.
Kicker
Jonathan Kim, redshirt senior
Arriving in East Lansing with two seasons left of eligibility, Kim transferred from North Carolina after graduating with his bachelor's degree this past spring. Kim is competing for a starting role with the Spartans for kickoff and placekicking duties. His leg strength has been praised by Tucker.
While a Tar Heel, Kim redshirted his final season, appearing in just four games for 32 kickoffs with 27 touchbacks and averaging 62.4 yards per kick. As a junior in the 2021 season, Kim played in all 13 games, leading the ACC with 65 touchbacks on 85 kickoffs. He also made one PAT. He registered a tackle on special teams as well.
Kim's sophomore season in Chapel Hill saw him lead the entire FBS with 76 touchbacks on 89 kickoffs as he appeared in all 12 games of the 2020 season at UNC. Kim also registered three tackles on special teams. As a freshman, he appeared in seven games and was 2-for-2 on PATs along with 21 touchbacks on 33 kickoffs.
At the very least, Kim will likely handle kickoff duties. He is hoping to be called upon for field goals and extra points as well.
Stephen Rusnak, redshirt sophomore
Rusnak enters his redshirt sophomore season with the Spartans after playing in just two games last year in his sophomore year. He made one lone extra point, his only PAT attempt on the season, against Penn State and attempted an onside kick at Washington.
That followed appearances in five games his freshman season at MSU in the fall of 2021. The kicker — who came to East Lansing out of Clarkston High School in Clarkston, Michigan — filled in for Matt Coghlin that first fall after the super senior was injured.
Rusnak became the first Spartan besides Coghlin to kick an extra point since 2016, going 4-for-5 on PATs (3-for-3 at Purdue, 0-for-1 vs Maryland, 1-for-1 vs Ohio State) and 0-for-1 on field goal attempts (a 43-yard attempt at Purdue). He also handled kickoff duties in several games that season, beginning with Purdue, averaging 54.3 yards on 21 kickoffs for 1,140 yards and four touchbacks.
Rusnak is currently looking to take over the starting placekicker role for MSU this season with Kim being the main competition for that job. Tucker noted the competition at kicker has been ""very strong" throughout fall camp.
Yousef Obeid, true freshman
Obeid joins the Spartans as a preferred walk-on this year after graduating from Dearborn High School. The metro Detroit native helped lead the Pioneers to a Division I playoff berth as a senior while handling placekicking, kickoffs, and punts. He earned second-team MLive Metro Detroit Dream Team honors and Academic All-State honors from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
Tarik Ahmetbasic, true freshman
Just like Obeid, Ahmetbasic begins his collegiate career this fall at MSU as preferred walk-on. Ahmetbasic is a recent graduate of Chippewa Valley out of Clinton Township, Michigan. The Michigan native earned first-team all-state honors in Division I by by the trio of the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, and the Associated Press.
Ahmetbasic earned several other regional accolades in his high school career, while going a perfect 9-for-9 on field goals and 40-for-40 on PATs with 37 touchbacks his senior year. A multi-sport athlete, he also earned all-state honors in soccer.
Long Snapper
Hank Pepper, junior
Pepper, a junior from Chandler, Arizona, returns to East Lansing for another season after starting at long snapper in all 13 games as a true freshman and five last year as a sophomore before missing the final seven games of the season due to the aforementioned ailment.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 210-pounds, Pepper totaled 168 special teams snaps thus far as a Spartan (62 extra points, 24 field goal attempts, 82 punts). Pepper was named a captain for the matchup against Ohio State last season, but was unable to play due to the injury. He has nine total tackles on his career with seven solo and two assisted.
Tucker is happy to have his starting long snapper back healthy, recently saying the following:
"Hank Pepper is back healthy as our (long) snapper, so that's huge for us. You don't know you don't have a snapper until you don't have one."
Drew Wilson, junior
A native of Redondo Beach, California, Wilson spent the past two seasons playing for Long Beach City College where he saw action in 13 games for the Vikings.
While playing at the JUCO level, Wilson tallied three tackles and two assists, along with one kick return for no yards last season. He totaled 13 total tackles for his career. Wilson also had one career interception, recorded during his freshman season, which went for 30 yards and capped a 31-17 team win over Allan Hancock College.
Wilson will bring needed depth at the position after Pepper missed seven games last season due to injury and OSU transfer Mason Arnold initially enrolled at MSU before ultimately leaving after spring practice to play at Florida State instead.
