Pre-Snap Read: Michigan State vs Florida Atlantic

EAST LANSING, Mich. - I was a little surprised by some of the questions that Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith and his coordinators received about the run-up to Friday’s season opener against Florida Atlantic.  Whether it was Smith’s radio show, or the coordinators’ press conferences, the Michigan State coaches were asked about the specter of starting the Big Ten season in week two at Maryland, and what impact that could have on preparation, schemes, player rotation and play calling for Friday’s game against Florida Atlantic. Smith and his coordinators remained respectful to the questioners. But it’s not coach-speak when they promised that 100 percent of their focus was on FAU and trying to come out of the weekend with a 1-0 record. And Michigan State will get a firm test from the Owls. “I’m not worried about Maryland,” said Michigan State defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. “Watching how hard they (FAU) played against Power Five teams (Illinois and Clemson) last year, they are going to come in and they’re going to play their butts off and they have really good players. For us, it’s about executing our calls, flying to the ball and handling anything that they throw at us that we hadn’t seen.” (Much more).