After an offseason filled with change and plenty of unknowns, we finally have some actual football to break down.
Michigan State opened the Pat Fitzgerald era with a 30–20 win over Toledo. It wasn’t always pretty, but after spending months wondering what this team would look like under a completely new staff, we finally have something much more useful than speculation. We have film.
For these weekly Film Rooms, I’m not going to try to break down every snap or pretend I know every player’s assignment. Instead, I’ll go back through the game and highlight the things that catch my eye: players who deserve a little more attention, interesting wrinkles from the coaching staff, big plays, little plays that mattered, mistakes that need to be corrected and some X’s and O’s when there’s something worth digging into.
There was plenty of all of that against Toledo. Let’s see what stood out.
OFFENSE
There may not have been a bigger mystery entering the season than Michigan State’s offense. Nick Sheridan took over a unit with new pieces throughout the lineup and plenty of questions about what its identity would ultimately become.
After one game, I’m not ready to declare that we know exactly what this offense is. But a few things certainly caught my attention. The biggest was Michigan State’s willingness to control the game rather than chase style points. The Spartans held the ball for 43:16, ran 83 plays, picked up 26 first downs and attempted 49 runs. They weren’t particularly explosive, averaging just 4.8 yards per play and 3.1 yards per carry, but they stayed patient and kept moving the chains.
The drive chart might be the best evidence of that mentality. Michigan State put together four scoring drives of 10-plus plays: 13 plays for 7:14, 11 for 5:34, 10 for 2:33 and 11 for 5:55. It wasn’t always flashy, but the Spartans consistently stayed on the field and made Toledo’s defense work.
I also loved seeing Sheridan mix in 21 personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR) with two true running backs to take advantage of Michigan State’s depth in the room. It’s a look I don’t remember seeing much the last couple of seasons and gives Sheridan another way to get his best players on the field. The backs working as lead blockers still have some room for improvement, but it’s something I’ll be watching as the season goes along.
Alessio Milivojevic: Growth Within the Game
One of the most encouraging things I saw from No. 11 Alessio Milivojevic was how he handled pressure as the game went along.
On the first play in the clip below, MSU faces 3rd-and-goal in an obvious passing situation, and the short field gives Toledo an advantage. With the end line acting as an extra defender, there’s less field for Toledo’s secondary to cover and less space for Michigan State’s receivers to create separation. Michigan State comes out in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR), but with an interesting alignment. No. 31 Jayden Savoury, the tight end, joins two receivers in a condensed trips look to the short side, with the third receiver isolated to the wide side. I don’t love the spacing of the routes. Everything gets crowded, and there isn’t an easy throwing window for Alessio. Toledo also runs a stunt up front to create confusion in the protection. To the wide side, No. 6 Fredrick Moore runs a slower-developing route toward the sideline, but Toledo stays with him. Alessio eventually takes the sack, but I don’t hate the decision not to force something into coverage. In the red zone, protecting the football and taking three points is better than trying to manufacture a throw that isn’t there. I’d like to see a little more composure once the pressure starts closing in, but sometimes the defense simply wins the rep.
The second play shows another side of Alessio’s game. MSU comes out in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR), with an offensive lineman functioning as the jumbo tight end. Toledo initially covers the play well, and pressure begins forming around Alessio. This time, he sees an opening in the pocket and trusts his instincts. He takes off, turns on the jets and outruns multiple defenders along the sideline to move the chains. That’s some sneaky athleticism from the young quarterback. More importantly, he recognized that the passing play wasn’t there and found another way to keep the drive alive.
Cam Edwards’ Crazy Legs and Some Nastiness Up Front
No. 0 Cam Edwards might be the most fun player on this offense to watch. His running style reminds me of a pinball bouncing around the machine. He has great contact balance, keeps his legs moving through contact and has a knack for finding extra yards when it looks like the play should be over.
On the first play in the clip below, MSU comes out in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) and sends No. 6 Fredrick Moore in motion to become the lead blocker. I love the idea of using motion to get another blocker into the run fit, even if the execution isn’t perfect yet. Moore mostly gets in the defender’s way and ends up doubling a player already being blocked, but that’s something that should improve with more reps in the offense. Edwards navigates the traffic, bounces off contact and creates additional yards himself.
The second play comes from 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) and gives us a better look at what happens when everything comes together. The offense does a great job washing Toledo’s defensive front away from the direction of the run. Watch No. 88 Kai Rios in particular. He gets great movement on his block and helps open the lane for Edwards to hit. Then the Pinball Wizard takes over. Edwards gets through the opening, keeps his balance through contact and somehow finishes spinning around like he’s landing a 360 on a snowboard. These plays are a good example of why Edwards is fun to watch. Give him a clean lane and he can hit it. Give him a mess and he has the balance and creativity to find yards anyway.
There was also plenty to like from No. 75 Ben Murawski at left tackle. I’ve highlighted him in the clip below because there’s a nastiness to his game that immediately jumped out on film. He gets movement at the point of attack, but what stood out most was his desire to finish blocks. Making contact isn’t enough. Murawski wants to drive his defender out of the play and keep going until the whistle.
That doesn’t mean everything was perfect. Murawski wasn’t nearly as impressive in pass protection, and I think smaller, quicker edge rushers could give him some problems. But that’s not where his game jumps off the screen. No. 75 is a monster in the run game. When he can get his hands on a defender and start moving downhill, good luck.
I want to see Cam Edwards and the rest of Michigan State’s backs following No. 75 more often. And somebody please tell Alessio that if he has a choice on a QB keeper, heading toward Murawski’s side of the line might not be the worst idea in the world.
This is also my first time working Coach Paint into the Film Room. As I get more comfortable with it, I’m hoping to use more of its features to spotlight players, assignments and those little details that are easy to miss watching the game live. For now, keep your eyes on the spotlight and watch No. 75 go to work.
Murawski leaving the game with an injury was concerning, although he was able to return. After watching the film, his health is something I’ll be keeping a close eye on. Michigan State needs No. 75 on the field if this running game is going to reach its potential.
A Crucial 4th Down Call
I’ve seen this decision getting killed on social media, but I loved the aggressiveness from the coaching staff. Facing 4th-and-1 from the Toledo 5 in the fourth quarter, trailing 20–19, Nick Sheridan put the ball in his young quarterback’s hands.
The design is what really makes the play work. MSU lines up with trips to the right, with one running back and one tight end. Both the back and tight end stay in to protect, giving Alessio time while he rolls toward the wide side of the field. That’s already playing to one of his strengths because Alessio looks extremely comfortable throwing on the move.
Against Toledo’s zone coverage, MSU overloads the middle with No. 3 Rodney Bullard Jr. and No. 13 Chrishon McCray, while No. 6 Fredrick Moore runs an out route that occupies the outside corner. Bullard then slips behind the underneath coverage and finds enough open grass to set up a tent and order Pizza House for the weekend.
Alessio has plenty of room to operate, sees it develop and drops an absolute money ball to Bullard for the go-ahead touchdown. QB1 looks incredibly comfortable throwing on the run, even pointing Bullard into the open space as the play develops. From there, it’s almost a long handoff.
There’s risk throwing on 4th-and-1, but this wasn’t just being aggressive for the sake of being aggressive. Sheridan created a favorable matchup, played to his quarterback’s strengths and trusted his players to execute with the game on the line. I loved the call!
DEFENSE
Joe Rossi returns to lead a Michigan State defense with new faces at every level. While the coordinator and system are familiar, many of the pieces he’s working with are not. One game isn’t enough to tell us exactly what this defense will become, but it gave us our first look at how Rossi plans to use them.
Rather than trying to diagnose every coverage or defensive call, I went back through the game looking for the plays that caught my eye. There were some really encouraging individual efforts, a couple of players who jumped off the film and two mistakes that turned into huge plays for Toledo. Here’s what stood out.
The Explosives: When It Went Wrong, It Went Really Wrong
In the clip below, this is the kind of explosive play Michigan State simply has to eliminate. No. 5 Tre Bell had just dropped Toledo for a seven-yard loss, setting up 2nd-and-17. Michigan State had the Rockets exactly where it wanted them. Watch Toledo quarterback No. 6 John Alan Richter. He gives a subtle pump fake underneath, and No. 4 Charles Brantley gets caught looking into the backfield for just a moment. That’s all No. 3 Adjatay Dabbs needs. He gets behind Brantley, Richter sees it and what should have been an opportunity for Michigan State to get off the field instead turns into a 60-yard touchdown.
On 2nd-and-17, Toledo is in YOLO mode. Don’t get greedy. Keep everything in front of you, make the tackle and force them to earn the first down. Instead, one moment of hesitation turns into seven points. It’s a correctable mistake, but these are the plays Michigan State has to eliminate. You can play great defense for most of a possession, but none of it matters if one lapse gives the offense 60 yards and a touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, we get a good example of how one mistake can turn into a huge play. In the clip below, watch No. 1 Kenny Soares Jr. and No. 2 Devin Vaught. At the snap, both end up attacking the same area, and the C-gap opens up. But give Toledo some credit, too. No. 19 Daryl Barnett Jr. and No. 88 Jacob Newell are blocking their butts off on this play, helping seal the defenders and create a huge lane for No. 8 Connor Walendzak.
Without knowing the exact defensive call, I’m not going to pretend to know which player was responsible for which gap. What we can see is two Michigan State defenders ending up in the same place, Toledo taking advantage of it with some excellent blocking and nobody left to contain the run. The result is No. 8 taking it 71 yards for the go-ahead touchdown before presumably returning to class on Monday to work on his accounting degree.
This is correctable with coaching, communication and more reps together. With so many new pieces learning a new defense, some growing pains are understandable. But the best defenses don’t make these mistakes. One bad run fit turned into 71 yards and seven points.
Defensive Dawgs: Soares and Coenen
One wrinkle from Joe Rossi’s defense that caught my attention was how often No. 1 Kenny Soares Jr. dropped into coverage. We normally think of an EDGE player as someone whose job is to get after the quarterback, but Rossi asked Soares to do a little bit of everything against Toledo. It reminded me of how Brian Flores uses OLB Andrew Van Ginkel in Minnesota’s multiple defense, where an edge defender can rush, drop into coverage and create uncertainty for the offense about where the pressure is actually coming from.
On the play below, Soares drops underneath and gets himself directly into the throwing lane. He gets his hands on the ball, pops it into the air volleyball-style and has the awareness to find it again and secure the interception. He nearly came away with another pick earlier in the game, too. It’s a heck of an athletic play from an EDGE defender and something I’ll be watching as the season continues. Was this simply a Week 1 wrinkle Rossi liked against Toledo, or is moving No. 1 around and dropping him into coverage going to be a bigger part of this defense?
Here’s a name I didn’t hear much this offseason: No. 96 Eli Coenen, a redshirt junior transfer from Illinois. Yet there he was working with the first-team defense on a key third down early in the first quarter. What I love about this play is the football IQ. Watch Coenen highlighted in the play below as Toledo quarterback No. 6 John Alan Richter starts moving out of the pocket. Coenen stays disciplined enough to contain the quarterback run without completely committing to it, while also keeping himself in the passing lane. Richter is left without an easy option, and Michigan State gets off the field.
It’s not going to show up as a sack or interception in the box score, but these are exactly the little plays I want to highlight in the Film Room. Coenen does his job, stays disciplined and helps end the drive. I’ll be watching to see how much No. 96 works his way into the defensive tackle rotation as the season goes along.
Bonus: Once a Spartan…
I have to give some love to former Spartan No. 7 Armorion Smith. He may be wearing Toledo colors now, but apparently the Spartan Dawg never left. Watch Smith come downhill in the clip below and deliver a hit that immediately caught my attention going back through the film. There’s not much analysis needed here. Sometimes you just have to appreciate a defensive back arriving with bad intentions. Great football player and, by all accounts, an even better human. Once a Spartan Dawg, always a Spartan Dawg.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Special teams might not get as much attention as the offense or defense, but Michigan State gave us plenty to talk about in the opener.
No. 37 Liam Boyd was probably the biggest story. Michigan State’s offense repeatedly moved the football without finishing drives in the end zone, and Boyd made sure those possessions still produced points. He connected on five field goals, including a 51-yarder, with his only miss coming on a blocked 54-yard attempt. When your kicker is responsible for 16 of your 30 points, that’s a pretty important night.
No. 9 Rhys Dakin didn’t get much work, which is usually a good problem to have for a punter. Michigan State punted just once all night, with Dakin delivering a 44-yard punt that was downed at the Toledo 7-yard line. It wasn’t a large sample size, but after watching Michigan State’s offense possess the ball for more than 43 minutes, I’m guessing Dakin was perfectly happy spending most of his night on the sideline.
The return game also gave us something to build on. No. 13 Chrishon McCray returned three punts for 30 yards, while No. 32 Kenneth Williams provided the biggest spark with a 47-yard kickoff return. It wasn’t a spectacular night across the board, but Michigan State looked capable of creating some hidden yards in the return game.
Gritty Player of the Week: The Long Snapper
Now for my favorite special-teams play of the night. Long snappers are generally doing their job correctly when nobody knows their name. Snap the football, get downfield and don’t screw anything up. But every once in a while, one of the big fellas gets an opportunity to make a play. And when that happens, we celebrate it in the Film Room.
That brings us to No. 50 Nick Duzansky. Getting a field goal blocked sucks, but I absolutely loved his effort after this one went wrong. Watch No. 50 after the block. While everyone else looks stunned for a second, Duzansky immediately recognizes that the ball is still live and takes off. He throws himself into the pile, loses his helmet in the process and helps force the returner out of bounds. The field goal was already blocked. Duzansky couldn’t change that. What he could do was keep a bad situation from becoming much worse. That’s the definition of grit — and your weekly reminder that long snappers are athletes too.
TAKEAWAYS
One game isn’t enough to define this Michigan State team, especially with a new coaching staff, new schemes and so many players learning to work together. But after finally getting into the film, we know a lot more than we did before Friday night.
There was plenty to like. Alessio Milivojevic showed some sneaky athleticism and seemed to settle in as the game went along. Cam Edwards runs like a pinball, and I want to see him following Ben Murawski more often. Nick Sheridan showed some interesting personnel packages and wasn’t afraid to trust his young quarterback with the game on the line. Defensively, Kenny Soares Jr. dropping into coverage is something I’ll be watching closely, while Eli Coenen gave us an early example of the kind of little plays that can make a big difference.
There’s plenty to clean up, too. Michigan State has to turn more of those long drives into touchdowns, and the defense simply can’t give away explosive plays like the 60-yard touchdown on 2nd-and-17 and the 71-yard run in the fourth quarter. Both looked correctable, which is encouraging, but the best defenses don’t make those mistakes. Special teams, meanwhile, gave us plenty to feel good about. Liam Boyd accounted for 16 points, and Nick Duzansky gave us my favorite effort play of the night.
The biggest question now is how much of what we saw against Toledo becomes Michigan State’s identity and how much was simply Week 1 experimentation. We’ll start getting that answer next week against the Concrete Crackers.
If you want to dive even deeper into the film, you can catch Robbie and me on the latest episode of The Red Cedar Rundown. I’ll be joining Robbie every Sunday this football season to break down the previous game. Think of the podcast and these Film Room articles as companions. There will be plenty of crossover, but also plenty that’s unique to each. We’re also going to have a little fun with the Red Cedar River theme each week, using categories inspired by the river to talk about players, plays, X’s and O’s, overlooked details and everything else that stood out.
You can also find me on X @W00dsyOwl, where I’ll be sharing additional clips, observations, and quick breakdowns from the game throughout the week. This Film Room is something I want to continue building throughout the season, so come interact with me. Tell me what you liked, what you didn’t, what you want to see more of, or a play or player you want me to take a closer look at. I’m always happy to go back to the film.
Go Green!
