There is a lot of new in the Michigan State passing attack. The Spartans have a new quarterback stepping up in Noah Kim and new, young wide receivers looking to fill the void left by Jayden Reed and Keon Coleman.
Kim was shaky early on in MSU’s season-opener against Central Michigan at the quarterback position. He missed some throws in the first quarter, but he recently mentioned that he “felt comfortable from the start” of the game.
“We practiced hard that week (going into the Central Michigan game),” Kim said on Tuesday. “That’s all I can really say is that I was comfortable from the start. We just started to make plays there later in the first half and into the second half.”
The Spartans didn’t get on the scoreboard until the second quarter, thanks to a 47-yard boot from kicker Jonathan Kim. While Noah Kim was struggling early with accuracy, the receivers weren’t making it easier for him. Veteran Tre Mosley had two dropped passes.
“If a guy like Tre Mosley is dropping the ball, I think we’re going to be fine,” Noah Kim said. “He’s still Mr. Reliable as everybody says. It just happens as a receiver. It happens as a quarterback. I’m going to miss throws and guys are going to drop passes. That’s just football. We just can’t get too overwhelmed with, ‘OK, why am I dropping passes? Why am I missing throws?’ We just can’t get into that business. We just need to focus on what’s next. And what’s next is making the next play happen.”
In the midst of the early offensive struggles, scattered "boos" were heard around Spartan Stadium.
“I think that’s just something that, as a team, we can’t get involved with,” Noah Kim said about the boos from fans. “Obviously, we can’t let the highs get too high and lows get too low. If they’re booing, they’re booing. If they’re not, they’re not. It’s cool. It’s whatever. We've got a job to do. That’s what it is. It’s business on the field. We just can’t worry about all that other stuff.”
Wide receiver Christian Fitzpatrick said that head coach Mel Tucker ("Coach Tuck") did a good job communicating with the offense in the first half during the game versus Central Michigan.
“Coach Tuck, he does a great job during the game coming over … just communicating with every position,” Fitzpatrick said. “He kind of gives us all confidence. Like he came up to us during the first half and just asked us what we’re seeing and just told us that, ‘We’re seeing the same thing in the headset and just keep pushing. It’s coming.’"
While some fans may have voiced their displeasure in the early part of the game, Fitzpatrick understood why.
“The fans are great,” Fitzpatrick said about the crowd at Spartan Stadium. “At the end of the day, it’s entertainment. So if you don’t like something, you’re going to boo it. It’s no hard feelings. It’s never that. Yeah, we’re getting booed. We gotta put some points on the board. We were feeling the same way.”
The Michigan State offense, especially the passing attack, started to settle in once the second quarter hit and Jonathan Kim knocked in the aforementioned 47-yard field goal to get the Spartans on the board for the first time during the 2023 season. Noah Kim started the game just 3-for-11 passing. He finished the game 18-for-31 passing for 279 yards and two touchdowns, with zero turnovers.
“On offense, in the first quarter, we just weren’t making the plays necessary to get in the end zone,” Kim said. “But as the game went on and later in the first half, things started to click, guys started to make plays. You see a sophomore like (Ja)ron Glover making plays, which is a good thing. Nate Carter’s running hard. Jalen Berger running hard. Everything just started clicking and everyone just started doing their job. That just leads to some success.”
