With Big Ten play set to begin, sophomore wide receiver Keon Coleman (6-4, 215) has emerged as a breakout player for the Michigan State offense.

For Coleman, who is likely the best all-around athlete in Mel Tucker’s first recruiting class at Michigan State, it has always been a matter of when, not if.

When is now.

Coleman leads Michigan State in receptions (15) and receiving yards (236), and is tied with veteran Tre Mosley for the team lead in touchdown receptions (three). Coleman enters Big Ten play coming off an impressive performance in a road loss at Washington.

“The sky is the limit for Keon,” said graduate senior tight end DJ Barker. “I am at practice with him every day, and I know that he has that dawg mentality. It’s just like he told you guys, he’s going to leave these guys in a frenzy.”

Against Washington, Coleman totaled nine catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, while also scoring on a two-point conversion. In so doing, Coleman effectively filled the void left in the receiving corps by the absence of Jayden Reed, who did not make the trip west due to injury.

“It was great to see him come on the way he did,” said offensive coordinator Jay Johnson.

Quarterback Payton Thorne feels the same way.

“We definitely took a step in the right direction,” said Thorne of his growing chemistry with Coleman. “We hadn’t really been connecting that great in the first two games. It was good to complete some balls to him and have him do some good things in the game.”

One of those good things was the impressive scramble-rules catch Coleman had on a successful two-point conversion try.

“It was a tremendous play by him, physically overall,” Johnson said.

That two-point conversation was also an example of the growing chemistry between Coleman and Thorne.

“That wasn’t scripted,” Thorne said. “He was actually supposed to be on the other side of the end zone. As soon as he saw me roll out, he did exactly what we’ve talked about. He scrambled with me, and scramble drill is such an important part of the game and there are a lot of big plays that happen when the quarterback scrambles. He saw from where he was that I couldn’t get him the ball and it was his job to get open. He took off running, and he was running fast enough where I felt like if I put it out there far enough, he was going to run by the guy that was in front of him, which he did.”

Coleman is a completely different player now than he was when he arrived on campus two summers ago with a bunch of athletic potential, but little seasoning.

“He has grown so much since he’s arrived,” Johnson said. “He’s strong and he can run well. The one thing that I see is that he is playing physical not only with his body in trying to get open, but also with his hands, and we talk about that all of the time.”

Coleman has a number of physical attributes that make him a difficult match-up for any defensive back. Coleman’s increasing willingness to use his size and strength as weapon against defensive backs makes him that much harder to cover.

“He’s smart and he understands what he has to do to win route,” said safety Kendell Brooks. “He is good at winning, and he’s a bigger body, physical guy. He can jump as well, so all of those attributes make him a tough player to control.”

Coleman will need all of those attributes to give Michigan State an edge in the passing game against a physical Minnesota defense.