Michigan State had to shake off a sluggish first half, but the Spartans found their stride after the break and rolled past Eastern Michigan 35-7 at Spartan Stadium.
That was enough to keep Pat Fitzgerald’s team unbeaten through two games, even without senior linebacker Jordan Hall. Hall sat out after getting hurt a week earlier against Toledo, though Fitzgerald said afterward that Hall was “really close” to being cleared for action Saturday.
Eastern Michigan quarterback Noah Kim, the first of three former Michigan State quarterbacks due back at Spartan Stadium this season, left East Lansing with the same result as before: no change to his win total as a starter there.
The Spartans led only 14-7 at halftime, but the second half told a much different story. MSU scored touchdowns on three of its four drives after the break and held the Eagles to just 57 second-half yards.
At quarterback, the grade landed at C+. This is becoming more than a one-off now, because mobile backup Cam Fancher was again worked into the game as a change-up.
For the second straight week, he was inserted mid-game, and this time he got a longer look - a seven-play stretch in the third quarter, plus the closing snaps with the second-string offense. His quickness gave the Spartans a different gear when the offense had gone flat, and it helped jump-start a touchdown drive coming out of halftime.
Starter Alessio Milivojevic had a mixed afternoon. He opened badly, then settled in later, but the sharp, composed version of him that showed up against Toledo wasn’t there early.
Accuracy and field vision were issues, though he did finish better in the second half as the offense came around. He also had to work behind shaky pass protection and, at times, a lack of real downfield options.
The backfield earned the highest mark of the day, an A, and Cam Edwards was the reason. If there was any doubt left after Toledo, it got harder to keep it.
The senior showed off a burst that nobody else on the roster can match, pairing it with vision and acceleration that let him create on his own. He kept making things happen off-script, looked physical, and again played like the clear lead option in the run game.
Edwards finished with 152 yards and two touchdowns, though a fourth-quarter fumble took a little shine off an otherwise huge performance.
Behind him, Marvis Parrish and Jaziun Patterson combined for seven carries and looked like dependable complements to give Edwards a breather.
In Other News...
Michigan States Blowout Already Revealed A New Battle To Watch
Michigan States 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan did more than move the Spartans to 2-0 in 2026. It also gave the coaching staff a long look at a roster that was deep enough to keep rotating bodies on both sides of the ball, especially up front, where the offensive line shuffle continued to be part of the story.
Charles Taplin added his first collegiate touchdown to the mix, while several freshmen got their first non-special teams snaps in game action. The bigger long-term takeaway, though, may have come at nickelback, where a new competition is beginning to take shape and could become one of the more interesting depth-chart battles to follow as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Finally Gave Fans A Reason For Real Optimism
Michigan State finally had a performance that gave its fan base something sturdier than hope to grab onto, even if it came against Eastern Michigan. The Spartans got more from their key playmakers on offense, with Charles Taplin emerging as a useful young target and Cam Edwards helping energize the ground game. After a stretch of uneven play, the broader point was hard to miss: the pieces looked more connected, and the offense showed signs it could carry some real weight.
The defense still left room for concern after giving up plenty of yardage in the first half, but it did respond better after intermission and added a forced fumble to the mix. That kind of uneven outing is hardly a finished product, yet it was enough to nudge the mood from frustration toward cautious optimism. For a fan base that has been waiting for a reason to believe, this was at least a small but meaningful step in that direction. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Defense Faces Bigger Joe Rossi Test After Uneven Win
Michigan State got enough from its defense to steady an otherwise uneven win, and the second-half turnaround offered a clearer look at what Joe Rossi is trying to build. After a frustrating opening stretch against Eastern Michigan, the Spartans settled in after halftime and completely changed the feel of the game, tightening up against the run and keeping the Eagles off the board over the final two quarters.
Pat Fitzgerald made no attempt to hide his irritation with how the defense played before the break, but the response afterward helped ease some of that concern. The bigger question now is whether Michigan State can carry that adjustment into a more demanding test, because the flashes of control it showed later in the game will mean much more once Rossis unit is facing a sharper opponent and a longer night of pressure. [Read more 🡒]