Fresh off a season-opening win over Central Michigan last Friday in Spartan Stadium, Michigan State hosts Richmond on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 3:40 p.m. in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with Chris Vosters (play-by-play), Matt Millen (analyst) and Dannie Rogers (sidelines) on the call. In addition, the B1G Tailgate show, featuring host Mike Hall and analyst Tyvis Powell, will be on campus at Munn Field and will air on the Big Ten Network from 10 a.m. to noon.
MSU began its 127th season of football with a 31-7 victory over Central Michigan on Sept. 1 in East Lansing, while Richmond fell to Morgan State at home, 17-10, in its season opener last Saturday night. The Spiders finished the 2022 season ranked No. 16 in the AFCA Coaches Poll after reaching the second round of the FCS playoffs, closing the year with a 9-4 overall record. Richmond won the 2008 FCS National Championship, has won 12 conference titles, and has been to the NCAA Playoffs 11 times.
Saturday's game marks the eighth time Michigan State will be playing an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision. MSU is 7-0 all-time against FCS opponents, with its last victory arriving in 2021, a 42-14 win over Youngstown State.
Making his first career start at quarterback, redshirt junior Noah Kim was 18-of-31 passing for 279 yards and two touchdowns against Central Michigan, all career highs. After a slow start in the first quarter, Kim was 9-of-16 passing for 147 yards in the second quarter, and was 8-of-10 for 134 yards and two TDs in the second half. After redshirting in 2020 and not seeing game action in 2021, Kim was 14-of-19 passing for 174 yards and three TDs last season.
Redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay, who led the Big Ten in tackles per game (10.0) last season, was back at it again in the season opener against Central Michigan, leading the Spartans with 10 tackles, including one for a 1-yard loss. He also recorded the third interception of his career with a pick in the third quarter. Haladay was named to preseason watch lists for the Butkus Award, the Bednarik Award and the Nagurski Trophy.
Making his Spartan debut, redshirt sophomore running back Nathan Carter rushed 18 times for 113 yards and one touchdown vs. Central Michigan. A transfer from UConn, Carter took his first carry as a Spartan on the first play from scrimmage and raced 31 yards for the longest rush of the game by any player. He scored his first TD in the Green and White on a 2-yard run late in the second quarter. Carter became the third consecutive Spartan transfer to start in the season opener and rush for more than 100 yards (Kenneth Walker III, 264 vs. Northwestern in 2021; Jalen Berger, 120 vs. Western Michigan in 2022).
Michigan State featured five first-time starters in the season opener against CMU, including four on offense (QB Noah Kim, RB Nathan Carter, C Dallas Fincher, TE Evan Morris) and one on defense (S Malik Spencer). The Spartans also started a new placekicker (Jonathan Kim) and punter (Ryan Eckley).
This season marks the 100th anniversary of Spartan Stadium, which hosted its first game on Oct. 6, 1923. Michigan State Athletics will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Spartan Stadium throughout the fall. A special logo was created for the 100-year anniversary, which incorporates elements from the structure of Spartan Stadium and also pays homage to MSU's six national championships in football. Michigan State began playing at the present site of Spartan Stadium with four home games in 1923. A series of projects paralleling the Spartans' rise to national football prominence enlarged the steel-and-concrete facility from its original 13,064 seats in 1923 to its present size of nearly 75,000. MSU has won nearly 70 percent of its games played in Spartan Stadium (all-time record: 384-166-13, .694). For more information, please visit msuspartans.com/SpartanStadium100.
Mel Tucker, the 2021 Big Ten Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season in East Lansing at the helm of the Spartans. In just his second year in East Lansing in 2021, Mel Tucker led MSU to an 11-2 record, a Top 10 ranking, and a win in the New Year's Six with a victory over ACC Champion and No. 12 Pittsburgh in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Tucker was named a finalist for National Coach of the Year by multiple organizations, including the American Football Coaches Association, the Paul Bear Bryant Awards, the Football Writers Association of America and the Maxwell Football Club. He was also named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by both the coaches and media and the AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year. Tucker is 19-14 overall with the Spartans.
►A QUICK GLANCE AT RICHMOND (0-1)
The Spiders opened the 2023 season with a 17-10 loss to Morgan State at home last Saturday night, for Richmond's first home opening loss on at Robins Stadium, which opened in 2010 and snapping the Spiders' 17-game home-opener winning streak dating back to 2006.
Richmond entered the 2023 season ranked in both national NCAA FCS polls in the preseason, opening at No. 16 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the Stats Perform Poll. The Spiders finished the 2022 season ranked 11th in the season-ending Stats Perform FCS Media Poll and 16th in the AFCA Coaches Poll, advancing to the second round of the FCS Playoffs before falling to No. 2 seed Sacramento State in a hard-fought back-and-forth battle, 38-31. Richmond finished with a 9-4 record in 2022, going 6-2 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) action to finish third in the league.
Richmond's 2022 overall record of 9-4 was its best in head coach Russ Huesman's six seasons leading the Spiders. Huesman has a 33-30 record at Richmond as part of a 92-67 overall record in his 15th season as a collegiate head coach.
In Saturday night's loss to Morgan State, Richmond had 264 yards of total offense, with 169 yards passing and 95 yards rushing. The Spiders had one rushing TD but had four turnovers, getting intercepted once, while losing all three of their fumbles. Richmond was also flagged for seven penalties for 45 yards, and was just 3-for-12 on third-down conversions.
The Spider defense yielded 213 yards of total offense to Morgan State, with 114 yards rushing and 99 yards passing, on 7-of-13 passing without a TD. Richmond tallied three takeaways, recovering two fumbles and snaring one interception.
The Spiders took the opening kickoff and scampered down the field behind redshirt sophomore quarterback Kyle Wickersham in his first career start, who rushed seven times during Richmond's 12 plays, the last coming on a 1-yard rush up the middle and into the end zone for a TD. The ensuing PAT gave the Spiders a 7-0 lead. However, Morgan State countered with a TD drive of its own on its first possession to tie it up at 7-all midway through the opening quarter. That remained the score into halftime and through most of the third quarter, until Richmond redshirt junior placekicker Andrew Lopez split the uprights on a 28-yard field goal for a 10-7 Spider advantage. That would be Richmond's last lead of the night at Morgan State tied it up on a 38-yard field goal at the 10:39 mark of the third quarter and scored what proved to be the winning TD with a 10-yard rush with 6:24 left.
Richmond's defense stopped Morgan State and forced them to punt with just over two minutes to go, but muffed the punt return and Morgan State recovered at the Richmond 34. Morgan State nearly ran out the clock, before turning it over on downs with :01 on the clock. Wickersham connected with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ja'Vion Griffin for 32 yards but he was tackled at the Morgan State 44 to end the game.
Wickersham finished the game 23-of-30 passing for 169 yards, getting intercepted once and was sacked five times. The 32-yard pass to Griffin on the final play of the game was Wickersham's longest pass play of the night, as well as the longest offensive play of the game for either team.
Wickersham also led Richmond in rushing with 21 carries for 39 yards and the lone TD on the opening drive of the game. Redshirt senior running back Savon Smith added 10 carries for 30 yards. Redshirt junior wide receiver Nick DeGennaro had six catches for 46 yards, while redshirt freshman wide receiver Quanye Veney had five receptions for 24 yards. Smith added five catches for 12 yards, while Griffin finished with three receptions for 42 yards, boosted by the 32-yarder on the final play.
Redshirt senior linebacker Tristan Wheeler spearheaded the Spider defense with a game-high 17 tackles, with 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. The 17 tackles ranked third-most in the FCS in a game so far this season. Redshirt senior defensive lineman Marlem Louis had four tackles, with half of them going for 2.0 TFL, with one being a sack, in addition to forcing and recovering a fumble on a sack-fumble, which set up the Spiders at the Morgan 29 for a drive the resulted in a field goal. Louis also had a QB hurry that forced an interception. Fellow redshirt senior defensive lineman Aidan Murray matched Louis with four tackles, with 1.5 TFL and 1.0 sack, part of the Richmond defense's 10.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks.
Lopez finished just 1-for-3 on field goals, missing a 44-yarder and having a 52-yarder blocked, both in the second quarter, before his 28-yarder in the third frame. Senior punter Aaron Trusler punted five times for a 39.0 ypp average with a long of 43-yards, with two inside the 20. Smith had two punt returns for 13 yards with a long of 15 yards. Graduate senior running back Milan Howard had two kick returns for 22 yards, while Wheeler added one kick return for 12 yards. Redshirt freshman placekicker Will McManus had three kickoffs for a 51.3 ypk average and did not have any touchbacks.
►MSU/RICHMOND SERIES NOTES
Saturday's game between Michigan State and Richmond marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Saturday's game marks the eighth time Michigan State will be playing an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision. MSU is 7-0 all-time against FCS opponents, with its last victory arriving in 2021, a 42-14 win over Youngstown State.
