Michigan State spent last season getting very little heat on opposing quarterbacks. This year, Eli Coenen has flipped that script in a hurry.
Through two games of the 2026 season, the transfer addition already has three sacks, a total that not only tops every Spartan from 2025, but also leads the entire Big Ten. Maryland’s D.D. Holmes is next with 2.5 sacks, and seven players are tied for third with 2.0.
That kind of start is hard to ignore, especially after Michigan State’s rough 2025 in the trenches. Jordan Hall, Jalen Thompson and Quindarius Dunnigan each finished with 2.5 sacks last season, and that was enough to lead the team in a year when pressuring the quarterback was a real struggle.
Coenen has brought a different energy from the jump. In Week 1 against Toledo, he posted one sack and three tackles, but the impact went well beyond the box score. He was a steady problem up front, helping push Toledo into third-and-long situations with consistent pressure and showing he could hold his own against the run.
Week 2 brought even more disruption. Against Eastern Michigan, Coenen again finished with three tackles, and this time he spent the game living in the backfield. He got to former Spartan Noah Kim twice, collecting his second and third sacks of the season while continuing to hammer away at both the passing and running games.
Michigan State’s season was always going to hinge on trench play on both sides, and Coenen has already become a major reason the defense has looked so effective early on.
Now the challenge gets real. The Spartans head to No.
3 Notre Dame, where the offensive line figures to be a much stiffer test than the two MAC opponents Michigan State has opened with. If Coenen is going to keep this pace going, he’ll need another gear.
At 6-foot-6 and 287 pounds, the interior defensive lineman has been a force through two games. What started as a transfer portal pickup is quickly looking like one of the best finds on the Michigan State roster.
In Other News...
Michigan State Fans Have A New Offensive Debate After Saturdays Surge
Michigan States 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan gave the program another comfortable result early in the Pat Fitzgerald era, but it also sharpened the conversation around how the offense should look moving forward. The Spartans are 2-0 under their first-year head coach, and Saturdays second-half surge showed a group that can settle in after a rough start, with Alessio Milivojevic recovering from a slow opening stretch and the attack finding more rhythm as the game wore on.
Cam Fanchers change of pace off the bench added another layer to the discussion, while Cam Edwards kept making the kind of plays that force a coaching staff to keep feeding him. He finished with 152 yards and two touchdowns, though a late fumble offered a reminder that even in a lopsided win, the details still matter. For a team trying to define its offensive identity this early in the season, the mix of quarterback options and a productive ground game has given fans something real to debate. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Suddenly Has A Bigger Jordan Hall Concern
Jordan Halls status was already worth watching after he picked up a right-arm injury against Toledo, and it became an immediate talking point heading into Michigan States Week 2 matchup with Eastern Michigan. Pat Fitzgerald said Hall was close to playing, but the medical staff would not clear him, so the linebacker sat out while the Spartans kept moving without one of their more important defensive pieces.
Michigan State still handled business in a 35-7 win, with other linebackers stepping up and keeping the defense on track. The bigger concern now is less about what happened against Eastern Michigan and more about how quickly Hall can get back into the mix, especially with the Spartans wanting that unit settled before the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan States Blowout Already Revealed A New Battle To Watch
Michigan States 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan did more than push the Spartans to 2-0 in the 2026 season. It also turned into another early-season look at how much depth this roster has, with the staff using a wide range of players on both sides of the ball. The offensive line continued to rotate, and several freshmen got their first non-special teams action, a sign that the program is still sorting through pieces even while piling up wins.
One of the more interesting developments came at nickelback, where a new competition appears to be taking shape. Charles Taplin added to the night with his first collegiate touchdown, but the broader takeaway was that Michigan State is still learning who fits where as the schedule moves forward. For a team that has opened the year with back-to-back wins, those kinds of battles can matter just as much as the final score. [Read more 🡒]