The Jonathan Smith era of Michigan State football started with a 16-10 victory over Florida Atlantic in East Lansing on Friday.

Prior to the game, Smith spoke in his weekly press conference on Monday about responding to a lead, whether the team is up or down, and playing through the fourth quarter. After Friday's game, he said he was happy with the team's response and ability to finish the game when the pressure was on late.

"Game one, you're going to learn a lot about your team, and we've got a lot to work on," Smith said in after the game. "What I did learn and what I was pleased with is that there's a response in this group. We are going to play for four quarters, and win the game in the fourth quarter, and we were able to do that."

While it wasn't the prettiest win, Michigan State us 1-0. Let's jump into some of the takeaways from the victory over FAU.

A lot of the focus from Friday night was on the struggles of sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles. Of course, Chiles took "full responsibility" for the offensive woes. But it wasn't just on him, so let's take this in a different direction.

Looking at the box score, this might seem a little odd. The Spartans tallied 179 yards on the ground on Friday night. But outside of a few big plays, namely a 63-yard touchdown run from sixth-year senior running back Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams, the blocking was inconsistent.

Meanwhile, fellow running back, redshirt junior Nate Carter, a team captain, led the Spartans in carries with 19. However, he totaled just 48 rushing yards and averaged a meager 2.5 yards per carry.

While some of that may not have been all of the blocking's fault, there were plenty of carries that Carter had no chance, and if the Spartans want to have that one-two punch with the two tailbacks that Carter spoke about during camp, that simply can't happen.

Lynch-Adams also got stuffed for a two-yard loss on fourth-down-and-1 on a pivotal fourth-quarter call.

However, those big plays show the potential of the offensive line, which is a promising sight. The key now will be dialing things in going forward and finding that consistency, particularly in the run game.

It's not really a secret that the previous regime never quite seemed to figure out the defensive side of the ball. But Friday's defensive performance under Smith and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi was certainly a step forward.

With an offense that wasn't able to get going, especially late in the game, the MSU defense stepped up and shut down Florida Atlantic to win the game. Not to mention, the defensive unit scored the first points of the Jonathan Smith era on a safety by sixth-year senior defensive tackle D'Quan Douse.

The pass rush was there all night, tallying seven sacks, with a last-second incomplete dump-off pass by FAU quarterback Cam Fancher on the game-sealing fourth down stop preventing the Spartans from getting an eighth sack. And while the MSU pass rush didn't always get home, the Spartans were constantly forcing the mobile Fancher out of the pocket and making their presence felt.

Sixth-year senior rush end Khris Bogle, who recorded 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss on Friday, said he wasn't surprised to see the production from the defensive line.

"I knew it was going to happen," Bogle said. "Because we practice how we play. They make plays in practice and it translates over to the game."

That constant pressure from the defensive line paid off for the secondary.

"Our D-line is great," fifth-year senior defensive back Angelo Grose said. "We definitely feel the pressure. We definitely feel like that ball might not get out. It definitely feels good for a DB when our D-line is up there hunting."

The secondary recorded two interceptions (including one for Grose and one for junior safety Nikai Martinez), and the defense as a whole forced two fumbles, but was not able to recover them.

Overall, it was a promising performance for a unit that hadn't been able to meet expectations in recent years. But it wasn't without its blemishes. We'll take a look at that next.

The Spartans, and particularly the defense, saw quite a few penalties on Friday night. The team accumulated 12 penalties for 140 yards, to be exact. A lot of the offensive penalties were procedural, such as false starts, which can easily cleaned up in the coming weeks.

Others, like the late hits/personal fouls charged to the defense, are a bit trickier. While some of the late hits were because of the tough positions defenders were put in with Fancher's slides, plenty of the penalties were mental errors.

On a key fourth down late in the game, linebacker Jordan Turner, after being called for a late hit on FAU's Fancher, was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct due to his emotional response. While it didn't end up extending FAU's drive because Fancher was already ruled short of the line to gain on fourth down after review, those mistakes — in big moments down the stretch — could cost the Spartans.

Smith said in his postgame remarks that playing with that emotion is great, but it has to remain in check in moments like that.

"We want to play with some aggression, but we've gotta have some technique at the same time," Smith said. "So it's not just always a late hit, we got a horse-collar (tackle) here. We gotta be smart around the sideline."

Game one is always tough to diagnose issues. What can be attributed to the first bit of live action for a team as "first-game jitters," and what are the true issues that need to be focused on going forward? As Smith said on Friday night, it's often a time for overreaction from fans and pundits after the opening game of the season.

While there are some concerns as the Spartans prepare for Week two at Maryland, the problems seen on the field on Friday are fixable, and there is plenty of time to clean it up. For now, we'll just have to wait to see the response as the team continues to establish its identity under Smith.

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