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W2W4: Spartans v. Broncos

East Lansing, Mich. - Okay.

All of the fun sidebars surrounding Michigan State’s 2022 season opener against Western Michigan have been exhausted, so let’s get down to the business at hand.

But just in case you’ve been napping under a rock or in a cave, we’ve got father and son, with MSU serving up starting redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne and WMU featuring offensive coordinator Jeff Thorne; the Spartans redshirt senior wide receiver Jayden Reed played for the Broncos in 2018 before transferring to MSU and Broncos senior running back La’Darius Jefferson was a Spartan before moving on to Kalamazoo prior to his junior year.

Now, let’s move on to what really matters – the actual football game.

MSU will open the season at 7 p.m. on Friday (ESPN2) at Spartan Stadium as the No. 15/14 team in the country. But let’s not disrespect the Broncos. They have some dudes too, as the young folks and some coaches like to say.

As a matter of fact, Western has fortified its roster somewhat like MSU with nearly 20 additions from the transfer portal in recent seasons.

The Spartans come into Friday’s opener after an 11-2 finish in 2021 and a New Year’s Six Peach Bowl win over Pittsburgh. The Broncos were no slouches last season either, finishing 8-5 after a Quick Lane Bowl win over Nevada.

And although they lost some key contributors from last season’s squad, third-year Spartan head coach Mel Tucker knows the Broncos are going to come in with the purpose of making a statement of their own.

“I told the team, whatever they’ve seen from these guys on tape, they’re going to be better than that,’’ Tucker said during his first weekly radio show on Wednesday night. “They’re going to come in with more intensity, more fight, more determination and their belief is actually going to be really high that they can come in and get a win. We have to start fast, we have to set the tone. We have to play Spartan football for 60 minutes. We have to play a clean game. Discipline is going to win.’’

One of the main reasons WMU had a successful season last year is because they had a quality, balanced offense.

The team averaged 32.5 points per game and 466.4 yards per contest.

Those numbers may be hard to repeat with WMU breaking in a new QB in redshirt-freshman Jack Salopek, who will be replacing Kaleb Eleby, who left a year early to try his fortunes in the NFL.

Eleby threw for 3,277 yards and 23 touchdowns last season.

Salopek enters Friday night with just two games of action under his belt and 20 yards on 3-of-5 throws.

While WMU may be breaking Salopek in cautiously, they still have some nice weapons on offense to help fill the void of Eleby’s departure.

In the run game, look for senior running back Sean Taylor, who has been named to the 2022 Maxwell Award, Doak Walker and Paul Hornung Preseason Award Watch Lists, to carry the load. Tyler led the Broncos' rushing attack last year with a career-high 1,140 yards on 178 carries and nine TDs. He also caught a career-best 14 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

And of course, there’s Jefferson’s contributions in the run game. He finished second on the team in rushing with 835 yards and team-best 10 scores.

In the passing game, the Broncos will be looking for someone to equal the production provided by Skyy Moore, who finished last season with 95 catches for 1,292 yards and nine TDs and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Junior Corey Crooms, after amassing 44 receptions, 768 yards and six scores, is expected to be Salopek’s top target.

WMU also brought in graduate transfer wideouts Jehlani Galloway (from Boston College) and A.J. Abbott (from Wisconsin) to help supplement Moore’s lost production.

The Broncos’ offensive line will be anchored by redshirt senior tackle Dylan Deatherage and sophomore center Jacob Gideon, who has been named to the Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List.

MSU will counter with a defense that will be led by its top two tacklers from last season in senior safety Xavier Henderson and redshirt sophomore linebacker Cal Haladay.

Both finished with 96 tackles in 2021 and combined for 15 tackles for loss.

Haladay has been competing with Darius Snow, Ma’a Gaoteote and Mississippi State transfer Aaron Brulé for a starting role at MSU’s two inside linebacker positions. Brulé can also play as a stand-up edge defender, and Snow can play slot linebacker. Michigan State expects a deep rotation of linebackers to be a team strength.

On the defensive line, MSU will be led by graduate senior defensive tackle Jacob Slade, an Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List recipient.

Slade, who finished with 40 tackles, including five for loss last season, is expected to be joined up front by redshirt sophomore Simeon Barrow, redshirt junior Maverick Hansen and redshirt-freshman Derrick Harmon. Senior Dashaun Mallory will try to remain in the rotation.

At defensive end, Jeff Pietrowski leads the way with expected help from senior Florida transfer Khris Bogle, senior Brandon Wright and redshirt junior Michael Fletcher.

UNLV transfer Jacoby Windmon came to Michigan State as a linebacker, but is expected to become a factor as a stand-up defensive end.

Also look for redshirt senior Ben VanSumeran to figure into the rotation as an inside linebacker or edge rusher.

In the secondary, which became a position of woe last season for MSU, look for 6th-year Georgia transfer Ameer Speed to step in and provide instant stability on the back end with help from sophomore Charles Brantley, senior Chester Kimbrough and 6th-year senior Ronald Williams, with junior Angelo Grose at safety. Redshirt sophomore Marqui Lowery came on as a hard-hitting cornerback late last season and is expected to have a role in the rotation, with Tucker serving as the new cornerbacks coach and Harlon Barnett having more of a voice in things on the back end.

Williams and Grose led MSU in pass breakups last season with eight and seven, respectively. Grose had problems in pass defense last year in his first season as a safety. Michigan State needs him to clean up his play, or look for other options.

Offensively, the Spartans will feature a variety of weapons led by Thorne, who threw for 3,233 yards and a record-setting program 27 touchdowns last season.

And don’t think that Broncos head coach Tim Lester, in his sixth season in Kalamazoo, is not aware of Thorne’s influence on a game’s outcome.

“The hardest thing that he presents is that he’s smart, he’s not going to make mistakes,’’ Lester said. “You watch him and he always knows where to go with the ball, you’re not going to confuse him a ton and it’s hard to get to him. He doesn’t hold the ball, he gets rid of it and he gets up.


“I’ve known Payton since he was born and he’s a tough kid. We’ve got to just make sure we keep him off balance but he definitely has some weapons on the edges that he can throw to.’’

In the run game, Thorne could be handing the ball off to any of five different running back options, which will include MSU’s leading returning rusher in junior Jordon Simmons, who finished with 70 carries and 278 yards.

While redshirt-senior Elijah Collins is expected to be in the mix along with redshirt-senior Harold Joiner, 5th-year grad transfer Jarek Broussard (of Colorado) and redshirt sophomore transfer Jalen Berger (of Wisconsin) are expected to figure heavily in the final decision as to who gets a majority of the carries in the running back rotation. SpartanMag is expecting Berger and Broussard to serve as the top two, tonight.

At wideout, the Spartans feature one of most dynamic weapons in the nation in Reed.

He will enter his final season at MSU with high expectations for All-Big Ten accolades and potentially All-American recognition after finishing 2021 with 59 receptions for 1,026 and10 scores.

And if opponents are hell bent on shutting down Reed, the Spartans have a myriad of options in the pass-catching department.

Redshirt junior Tre Mosley, junior Montorie Foster and sophomore Keon Coleman are all expected to figure heavily in the pass game, along with 6th-year senior tight end Tyler Hunt.

MSU will also be relying on the skills of two other tight ends, who came to MSU via the transfer portal.

Redshirt sophomore Maliq Carr and fifth-year senior Daniel Barker (an Illinois transfer) should be instrumental in the Spartans’ blocking and passing scheme.

And the offensive line that will tasked with making sure MSU’s offense gets good blocking in both the run and pass games will be led by senior center Nick Samac, fifth-year senior tackle Jarrett Horst, senior guard J.D. Duplain, redshirt junior right tackle Spencer Brown and sixth-year senior right guard Matt Carrick.

With 10 returning o-linemen who have experience, MSU also will looking to develop its depth from its redshirt freshman and sophomore class.

On defense, Western Michigan returns its top three tacklers from last season in linebackers Zaire Barnes (senior), Corvin Moment (redshirt senior) and Ryan Selig (redshirt junior). Barnes and Moment tied for the team lead with 68 stops, while Selig was right behind them at 63. The trio combined for 21.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and six of the team’s 10 fumble recoveries last season.

That trio helped WMU finish in the Top 10 nationally in team sacks per game, passing yards allowed and fumbles recovered with the senior Barnes entering this season as a member of the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.

Speaking of passing yards allowed, Western Michigan senior defensive back Dorian Jackson has been named to the Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List.

He finished last season with12 pass breakups, a pair of interceptions, and 25 tackles, which included 2.5 tackles for loss.

“They’ve got good players on their defense, just like every defense has,” Thorne said. "They’ve got some good speed and guys with some good length. They are a good defense. They were ranked second in the country in third-down percentage, which is very impressive and they have three of their linebackers back that started last year.’’


WHAT TO WATCH FOR:


MSU: As long as the Spartans don’t get full of themselves, they should be all right in this season opener. Western Michigan may look like an easy mark on paper but the Broncos have enough on both sides of the ball to cause some problems, so MSU should look to take care of business early and cruise to victory.

WMU: Emotion and a capable defense should carry the Broncos for the first quarter and through part of the second but after that they will need to play some extraordinary, mistake-free football to make this a game. Pay close attention to how their new quarterback handles his first collegiate start.














Western Michigan senior punter Nick Mihalic has been named to the 2022 Ray Guy Award Watch List, the Augusta Sports Council announced on Wednesday. In 2021, Mihalic punted 47 times for the Broncos, averaging 41.9 yards per boot.



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