Despite a stunning series of events on special teams helping to flip an 18-point lead to a three-point deficit for Michigan State on Saturday, ultimately resulting in a 27-24 loss at Rutgers, there were positive signs from the team in the first three quarters.

Among those strengths was a seemingly resurgent offense (at least prior to the fourth quarter) led by redshirt freshman quarterback Katin Houser, who earned his first collegiate start against Rutgers. Despite the pressure of a starting job under center in Big Ten play, Houser finished the day with 133 yards on 18-for-29 passing, capped off by two touchdowns. He also added 27 yards rushing, including a 12-yard touchdown on a keeper late in the second quarter.

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Despite fans only receiving confirmation that Houser would get the job as starter just before Saturday's game started, he revealed to media he found out shortly after the loss at Iowa.

"It was a couple days after Iowa," Houser said of when he was told he'd start at Rutgers. "They wanted to give me time to prepare for this game."

Despite the pressure of the starting job, Houser tried not to let it get in his head.

"It's a big deal," Houser admitted about getting the job as starter. "I just think the biggest thing is just trying to stay as calm and as cool as I can be, not trying to get my emotions too high or too low. Just trying to stay neutral and be someone the team can rely on."

Thanks to Michigan State's bye week following the loss at Iowa, Houser has plenty of time to prepare for the start at Rutgers, and he felt ready.

"I feel like I was prepared even though it was my first start," Houser said. "I feel like the preparation I had, just even from like all the way back to spring ball, fall camp and a couple minutes I got in earlier this season, I feel like it prepared me for this moment."

Houser wasn't the only one who felt like he was prepared for the starting job in Piscataway. Teammate and redshirt senior wide receiver Tre Mosley also thought so and had high praise for his younger teammate after the game.

"Confidence," Mosley said of what stood out about Houser's performance. "For someone who walked into his first start in the Big Ten, you wouldn't have known that if you were watching the game. The way he was flying around and making checks at the line, and just the command he had with the offense, it was really good to see."

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Even better for Houser was that the notice he got for the starting job allowed a small cheering section of his most important fans to attend in the stands as well.

"I had my parents coming in for the game," Houser explained when asked if he had anyone in the stands for his first start. "They got a last minute ticket once they found out I was starting. They came up and supported me, so I'm thankful for them to be able to come up and see me."

Besides his first collegiate start, the game at Rutgers was a game of multiple firsts as well. In addition to his first passing touchdown of his college career, it was also the first game played in that level of precipitation. Heavy rain continued throughout the entire game from start to finish, and Houser managed to avoid any interceptions in the official statistics, despite the weather.

"I've actually never played a game in rain like that," Houser said of the weather. "That was my first time. Good thing the coaches prepared [us] for this all week. We practiced wet ball drills. We were prepared and I knew it was going to be like that. I checked the balls to make sure they were good, and it is what it is, and I didn't throw perfect quality every time, but I got the ball there for the most part, so it worked out."

While the official statistics don't show any interceptions, there were close calls. One in particular occurred early in the fourth quarter when Houser underthrew tight end Evan Morris and was almost picked off by RU's Flip Dixon. Dixon was unable to maintain control and the ball popped free for Morris to complete and advance the offense a yard, but was far short of the first down and resulted in the punting team being called out.

He also fumbled during MSU's opening possession, but recovered the ball himself and eventually led a touchdown drive.

This is one of those learning moments Houser acknowledged he would have from the game afterward.

"I think the biggest thing is just forget about this week," Houser said. "This game's over. There's nothing we can do to fix it. So moving on to next week, I've just got to go back in the film and look back and see what we did wrong and then fix that and then get into this game plan for next week and just execute."

One thing Houser didn't need to review the film for first was praise for his offensive line, though. Despite the Scarlet Knights' defense notching six tackles for loss and a big sack on third-and-12 given up to end the third quarter, the Spartans' run game found moderate success on the day.

"Offensive line played really well today," Houser praised. "We were able to run the ball really well. Protection was there. I was able to deliver the ball even in the rain."

Rutgers is giving up an average of 115.9 yards per game at 3.4 yards per carry, and the Spartans managed 134 total yards (112 with the fumbled punt) at 3.35 yards per carry average (just 2.7 with the punt).

"I thought guys relied a lot on each other," Houser said of what worked on offense this game. "I feel like we were moving the ball well and, even though some guys were making mistakes, I feel like we just we kept punching. Defense kept giving us opportunities in the first half and eventually we kept getting the ball rolling and we got a couple touchdowns, so it was good."

Specifically, two drives ended in passing touchdowns. The first was the opening drive of the game, which was capped off by a 13-yard reception to wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. Then in the second half, MSU's first drive again ended with a touchdown, this one a four-yard reception by Mosley.

"I think we just went out and we did our job every play," Houser added regarding what worked on those drives in particular. "We didn't try to think too much about the situation. We just knew what we had to do. We got to execute each play, and so we just went out and executed each play and it worked out to be touchdown drives."

There was one player that Houser was trying to get a touchdown for in particular, though. Instead, Houser's targets to him ended up being aimed at drawing penalties on the Scarlet Knights' defense and found success in that regard.