Previewing Michigan Vs. Michigan State With A Spartans Insider

By Clayton Sayfie

TheWolverine.com caught up with Graham Couch of The Lansing State Journal for insight on the Michigan State Spartans ahead of their matchup with Michigan Wolverines football. Couch broke down MSU and gave a final score prediction. We begin with the Spartans’ projected starting lineup.

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Michigan State projected starters on offense

• #2 – Sophomore QB Aidan Chiles (6-3, 217) — The Oregon State transfer and former four-star recruit followed head coach Jonathan Smith to East Lansing. Through seven games, he’s completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1,468 yards and 6 touchdowns with 9 interceptions. He’s added 166 rushing yards and 3 scores on 56 carries. He’s lost 3 fumbles. Seven of his picks have come when he’s under pressure, per PFF. He’s connected on 13 passes of 20-plus air yards, tied for the fifth-most in the Big Ten, on 36 attempts. The Long Beach, Calif., native completed 25 of 35 throws for 309 yards and 4 touchdowns as a freshman at Oregon State.

• #5 – Redshirt junior RB Nate Carter (5-10, 202) — Has played in 35 college games, dating back to his time at UConn (2020-22), including one at Michigan Stadium as a Husky in 2022. He’s rushed 67 times for 294 yards and 2 touchdowns this season. Sixth-year senior Kay’ron Lynch-Adams is actually the team’s leading rusher despite coming off the bench. The Rutgers (2019-20) and UMass (2021-23) transfer has registered 424 yards and 2 touchdowns on 82 attempts. He averages a team-high 3.56 yards after contact per carry.

• #3 – Redshirt senior WR Montorie Foster Jr. (6-0, 186) — Led Michigan State in catches (43) and receiving yards (576) with 3 touchdowns last season. He’s pacing the team in 2024 with 27 catches, adding 374 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Eleven of his 27 grabs have come 10-plus yards beyond the line of scrimmage, but he averages only 3.9 yards after the catch per reception. Foster has the most red-zone targets on the team (7), with 5 catches and 2 scores.

• #6 – Freshman WR Nick Marsh (6-3, 209) — The Detroit River Rouge product was a four-star, top-200 prospect out of high school. He’s leading the team with 433 receiving yards on 24 catches, with 1 touchdown. Eleven of his 24 grabs have come 10-plus yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and he’s averaging 18 yards per catch, good for third in the Big Ten. Foster (13) and Marsh (10) have been targeted on a combined 23 of the Spartans’ 52 third-down passes.

• #4 – Redshirt sophomore WR Jaron Glover (6-1, 204) — Has hauled in 14 catches for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. Eight of his 14 receptions have come within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, and he’s averaging 3.1 yards after the catch per grab.

• #12 – Junior TE Jack Velling (6-5, 244) — The Oregon State transfer earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors last season, bringing in 29 catches for 438 yards in 12 outings. He has 23 receptions for 256 yards this season, ranking third on the team in both categories, but has yet to get into the end zone. He has a below-average 52.1 PFF run-blocking grade.

• #65 – Redshirt freshman LT Stanton Ramil (6-7, 305) — The former four-star, top-300 recruit did not play last season and is set to make his fourth career start. He has a 58.0 overall PFF grade with 11 pressures and 2 sacks given up this season.

• #70 – Fifth-year senior LG Luke Newman (6-4, 315) — The Holy Cross transfer was named a second-team FCS All-American by multiple publications last season. He started 37 games at left tackle at the lower level before transferring up. He leads the MSU offensive line with a 71.6 overall PFF rating this season. He’s allowed 3 pressures and no sacks.

• #61 – Sixth-year senior C Tanner Miller (6-2, 290) — The Oregon State transfer was a first-team All-Pac-12 honoree (AP) and second-team All-American (ESPN.com) in 2023. He started 14 games over five seasons with the Beavers. He possesses a 67.1 overall PFF grade with 7 pressures and no sacks allowed this season.

• #53 – Redshirt senior RG Brandon Baldwin (6-7, 330) — Enters Saturday’s matchup with 22 career starts under his belt. He’s allowed 13 pressures and 1 sack this season, grading out at 51.4 overall, per PFF. He opened the first three games of the season at left tackle before sliding over to right guard.

• #66 – Redshirt sophomore RT Ashton Lepo (6-7, 306) — The first-year starter has registered a dismal 45.1 overall PFF rating. He’s given up a team-worst 17 pressures and 3 sacks so far.

Michigan State projected starters on defense

• #94 – Sixth-year senior DT D’Quan Douse (6-2, 301) — The Georgia Tech transfer started 24 of his 44 games at his previous school. He’s posted 17 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and a sack, along with 8 pressures this season.

• #91 – Redshirt sophomore DT Alex VanSumeren (6-3, 300) — The former Michigan commit has registered 8 tackles, including 1 sack, this season. He’s added just 1 pressure in pass-rush situations.

• #2 – Sixth-year senior DE Khris Bogle (6-4, 244) — Has collected 22 tackles — including 5 for loss and 3 sacks — with 2 quarterback hurries this season. He’s tied atop the team with 9 pressures. Bogle has 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in his 21-game career.

• #9 – Sophomore DE Jalen Thompson (6-3, 253) — The Detroit Cass Technical product took over a starting role at the end of last season and has opened all seven tilts in 2024. He’s put up 8 tackles with 1 behind the line of scrimmage and added 6 pressures.

• #27 – Redshirt senior LB Cal Haladay (6-1, 233) — Heading into his 43rd career start for Michigan State. He’s second on the team with 35 tackles (2.5 TFLs, 1 sack) with a forced fumble. He’s added 5 pressures but has struggled in coverage, allowing 18 catches for 215 yards on 19 targets.

• #7 – Redshirt senior LB Jordan Turner (6-1, 231) — The Wisconsin transfer ranked third on the Badgers with 61 tackles, 6.5 of which were behind the line of scrimmage, in 2023. He leads the Spartans with 43 stops, including 7.5 for loss and 3 sacks, this year. He’s added 2 quarterback hurries, 6 pressures and 1 interception.

• #15 – Redshirt senior NB Angelo Grose (5-10, 192) — Tallied 23 tackles, 1.5 stops for loss, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup and 1 forced fumble. He’s yielded 16 receptions for 224 yards and a touchdown on 27 targets in coverage. Grose has 3 career picks.

• #0 – Redshirt junior CB Charles Brantley (6-0, 170) — Has recorded 26 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and career highs in interceptions (3) and pass breakups (8) this season. He has 5 career picks, including 1 against Michigan in 2021. He has a 72.6 PFF coverage rating this season, giving up 13 catches for 123 yards and no touchdowns on 33 targets.

• #4 – Redshirt senior CB Ed Woods (6-0, 181) — The Arizona State transfer notched 12 starts in four seasons in Tempe. He’s recorded 26 tackles, 2 stops for loss, 1 sack, a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup this season. He’s been thrown at 20 times in coverage, resulting in 12 receptions for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns.

• #1 – Junior S Nikai Martinez (5-11, 191) — The UCF transfer started 13 of 27 outings with the Knights. He’s third on the Spartan defense with 31 tackles and has made 2 interceptions. He’s allowed 9 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown on 12 targets.

• #43 – Junior S Malik Spencer (6-1, 200) — Fourth on the team with 30 tackles, adding 2 pass breakups, a forced fumble and 1 interception. He’s been targeted 13 times, giving up 7 catches for 89 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Michigan State specialists

• #97 – Sixth-year senior K Jonathan Kim (6-0, 227) — The 2023 honorable mention All-Big Ten selection has made 15 of his 16 field goal attempts with a 55-yard long (last week against Iowa) this season. He has a 58-yard long for his career. He’s also booted 19 touchbacks on 34 kickoffs this season.

• #96 – Redshirt sophomore P Ryan Eckley (6-2, 204) — Averaging 48 yards per punt with a 61-yard long. He has 11 punts of 50-plus yards and has pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 3 times. He averages 3.9 seconds of hangtime per attempt, ranking 11th in the Big Ten.

• #3 – Redshirt senior PR Montorie Foster Jr. (6-0, 186) — The wideout has returned 4 punts for 38 yards with a 24-yard long. He has 15 fair catches.

• #15 – Sixth-year senior KR Kay’ron Lynch-Adams (5-10, 215) — Has brought back 3 kicks for 23 yards with a 13-yard long.

Aidan Chiles growing

Chiles was Michigan State’s best option coming into the season. While he’s young and mistake-prone, with 12 turnovers on the season, he’s improving. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 256 yards last week, and he only has 1 interception in the last two games (though he did fumble against Oregon two clashes ago).

“The turnovers are an issue,” Couch said. “The one at Oregon on the goal line was probably the most deflating turnover of the season. You have a fourth-down conversion, you get down there and then on first down he just coughs it up, kind of needlessly.

“There was a point that you worried about him losing confidence. I think that’s what the coaching staff was concerned about, too. They’re not overly talented, so they need him to be a playmaker, but also make smarter decisions at times, or better throws.

“I look at it like this: There have been MSU fans who are really frustrated by him, but I think Ohio State and Oregon would maybe both tade their quarterbacks for him, if their coaches we’re having a beer with you over a moment. I just think he’s got so much less around him in some ways than some of these top teams do, and he is younger. I guess I don’t know if that’s true if you’re looking to win right now, but certainly long term …

“He’s a pretty self-aware kid. He knows these turnovers are killing them. He’s got an unbelievable amount of talent. He makes some throws that are real NFL throws. He’s had some flair for the moment at big times.

“The most promising thing for him is that he’s had a couple moments in the season of growth. What I mean by that is, he really struggled in the opener against Florida Atlantic — didn’t look very good — and then had some huge moments, including 2 fourth-quarter passes to Nick Marsh against Maryland.

“And then he had really struggled against Oregon, and he struggled with turnovers for a couple of weeks. And then he has this game where, yeah, he threw an interception, but he was pretty solid and also just made some great throws against Iowa and sort of grew with the entire team.

“It makes a difference when he has Marsh healthy. Marsh being out for the Boston College game probably, in hindsight, cost them that game. But yeah, he’s been good enough to really think that he’s the answer and he’s the future, and that they made a smart decision going after him.”

Nick Marsh is a difference-maker

Marsh is a big-play threat, and his mark of 72.2 receiving yards per game ranks ninth in the Big Ten. Couch said he and Chiles are the two high-level playmakers that defenses have to fear.

“There was a play last week where Iowa had a pass interference call and a holding call trying to deal with Marsh,” Couch explained. “He’s a guy that gets himself open, he’s got next-level ability.

“Now, he just turned 18 years old, he’s a young guy, but he just makes the rest of them better, too. I think they’ve got other good receivers. Montorie Foster is a good receiver. Jaron Glover is a good receiver. But these guys aren’t game-breaking difference-makers that defenses fear.

“Marsh, whether he’s there yet or not, is on that trajectory. He had a 57-yard catch and a 76-yard touchdown against Maryland. When there’s a big play, he’s often on the other end of it, and he’s healthy now and he’s just beyond his years.

“He’s a big guy, too. Marsh is a big, fast receiver who just moves well. You can tell it’s him who’s caught the ball before you see the number. You can just tell in the way he moves. He’s a factor already, and he is somebody I think increasingly defenses have to game plan for.”

What Michigan State did well against Iowa coming off bye week

One of the biggest disappointments for Michigan in its 21-7 loss to Illinois was that it played its worst game of the season (and in many seasons) coming off a bye week. On the flip side, the Spartans played their best coming off an idle week, beating Iowa 32-20.

Michigan State ran the ball much better, posting a season-high 212 yards on the ground, and stopped the run, with Iowa’s potent rushing attack accumulating only 133 yards — 75 of which came on one play.

“That was a big game for their coaching staff,” Couch said of Smith and Co. “Obviously, right now Michigan fans are feeling a different way about how they came out of a bye week. Sometimes, that’s as simple as you just don’t have the quarterback play, right? I’ve covered MSU teams where that was really the hindrance, and you could’ve had five bye weeks and it just wasn’t going to make that big of a difference.

“But I do think from a growth standpoint, you saw offensive line play that we really haven’t seen. We’ll see if it holds [up]. Michigan’s got talent up there that’ll present challenges for them, and I’m skeptical because it’s been most of a decade since they’ve had a really good offensive line. But that was against a pretty good interior front for Iowa. It was surprising how well they moved it, especially between the 20s.

“And then that changes it, right? You have the whole play book. Iowa had to start bringing a safety down to deal with the run, and it just changes everything. So that was a big deal and a big moment of progress, I think, for them.”

The Michigan State defense has taken its lumps, allowing more than 475 yards of total offense in losses to each of Ohio State and Oregon, but bounced back nicely versus the Hawkeyes. Stopping the run was a big deal, even against a team that doesn’t have big-time passing success.

“Now Iowa is different than some teams in that they don’t really have a passing game that scares you, so it allows you to really focus on it,” Couch said. “In some ways — even though they run a little bit different schemes — it’s similar to what Michigan has right now. You don’t really fear the passing game.

“MSU’s defensive front, I think their front seven has been pretty good most of the year. There are certain positions you can get them in — you get Cal Haladay out there in coverage and they’ve got problems and things like that — but largely, they’ve been a pretty good, aggressive, sound defense that sort of ran out of steam and lost its way against Oregon.

“So that was a big game against Iowa to bounce back and show that, at least against most of the Big Ten — and they won’t face Oregon or Ohio State again — they’ll be OK.”

Couch’s final score prediction

“I was surprised by the line being what it was, just based on what we saw last week,” Couch began. “But you don’t want to overreact. Like, I don’t trust Michigan State entirely. But I just think the vibes are not great at Michigan right now.

“I think MSU’s got more weapons on offense. They’re just better at quarterback, really — it’s not anything else.

“I probably will pick Michigan State. I haven’t picked them in a while; I picked them to lose to Iowa. So it’s probably not good for MSU, because I’m usually wrong on these things, but I think it’s going to be a relatively low-scoring game. I don’t think MSU will have great success offensively. And if it’s low scoring, you can just see a late turnover by Michigan State really being a problem or something.

“Michigan State struggles in the red zone. I think they might struggle up front. But I just think the vibes at Michigan right now are not great.”

Prediction: Michigan State 16, Michigan 13