Michigan State walked into the season with a roster that barely resembled last year’s, and two games in, a few names have already pushed themselves into the spotlight ahead of Saturday’s huge meeting with No. 3 Notre Dame.
The biggest jolt has come on the defensive line from Eli Coenen. The Illinois transfer, who started his college career at Division II Bemidji State, has wasted no time becoming a force for the Spartans.
He already has a Big Ten-best 3.0 sacks and has regularly driven blockers backward when he isn’t drawing double teams. The test now is whether that production holds up against Power Four offensive lines the way it did against MAC competition, but there’s no denying Coenen has been Michigan State’s top defensive tackle so far.
He was expected to start, though more as the No. 2 interior lineman behind Ben Roberts. Given the concerns about the Spartans’ depth, talent and experience at defensive tackle, his emergence has softened that issue considerably.
Another newcomer making a real impact is linebacker Brady Pretzlaff, who won a starting job outright in camp. Most of the offseason, the assumption was that Jordan Hall would line up next to either Auburn transfer Caleb Wheatland or Buffalo transfer Dion Crawford.
Hall kept his spot, but Pretzlaff earned the outside linebacker role on his own. He and Crawford started Saturday while Hall was out.
Through two games, Pretzlaff has 13 tackles, tied for the team lead, and his style fits what Pat Fitzgerald and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi want on defense. Rossi, who recruited Pretzlaff at Minnesota, already knows what kind of player he is.
The added bonus for Michigan State is that Pretzlaff, an in-state product, can stay in East Lansing through 2028.
On offense, wide receiver was one of the most intriguing unknowns entering the year, and Rodney Bullard Jr. has become the clearest answer. He had every reason to be behind, too.
Bullard spent much of the offseason not knowing if he would even be cleared to play, before the NCAA finally granted his eligibility on Aug. 24, just 11 days before the opener. Still, he has become Michigan State’s WR1 through two games, catching 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
That score came at a massive moment against Toledo, when he converted a fourth down in the fourth quarter with the Spartans trailing by a point. He might have finished with a couple more contested catches, but even without them, Bullard’s rise has been one of the early surprises of the season.
The Spartans’ top tight end has also emerged. Jayden Savoury has 99 receiving yards and eight catches, good for third on the team in receptions and just behind Bullard in yardage.
The rest of the tight end room has barely made a dent, combining for only two catches and 15 yards. Savoury had already looked like one of the offseason’s biggest risers in fall camp, even as Brennan Parachek appeared to hold the TE1 spot for much of that stretch.
Parachek is still playing plenty because of his blocking, but Savoury has clearly been the more effective all-around option. As a second-year player who can remain eligible through 2029, he fits the kind of profile Michigan State will want to keep around.
Special teams have brought their own pleasant surprise. Charlotte transfer Liam Boyd entered the year as the expected kicker, but with limited track record behind him.
Before 2026, he was 10-for-13 on field goals for his career and had never made anything longer than 42 yards. Then he opened Week 1 against Toledo by going 5-for-6, with three makes from beyond his previous long, and he finished the night by drilling a 51-yarder to help seal the win.
He has also handled kickoff duties well and has been steady with touchbacks.
In Other News...
Tom Izzo May Have Just Moved Ahead For A Huge 2027 Target
Michigan State used a recent recruiting weekend to put two of its top 2027 targets in front of Tom Izzo and his staff, welcoming five-star point guard Antonio Pemberton and four-star center Jaydn Jenkins to campus. The timing mattered, too, with the Spartans continuing to lean into early evaluation and relationship-building as they try to position themselves well for a class that is still taking shape.
Now there is real momentum to monitor with Pemberton, the No. 23 overall prospect in the 2027 class. A report from Joe Tipton suggests Michigan State has emerged as the favorite for the top-25 recruit, a sign that the Spartans may have moved ahead in a recruitment that still has room to evolve. For a program that has long sold player development and trust, landing in front this early is the kind of progress Izzo wants to see. [Read more 🡒]
Brady Pretzlaff Just Took On A Bigger Michigan State Role
Michigan State is off to a 2-0 start in its first season under Pat Fitzgerald, and the latest win came with a familiar test for a defense trying to establish its identity early. In a 35-7 victory over Eastern Michigan at Spartan Stadium, the Spartans got another strong team showing, but the day also created room for a different voice to emerge when the defense needed one.
With Jordan Hall unavailable, redshirt sophomore Brady Pretzlaff handled a larger responsibility and spoke afterward about stepping into the moment, the standards Michigan State expects on defense and how much it means just to be back on the field. For a program still settling in under a new coach, that kind of growth matters almost as much as the scoreboard, especially when the next stretch will ask even more from the players now carrying the load. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Is Counting On Anton Bonke To Silence One Doubt
Michigan States interior picture is taking shape around Anton Bonke, the 7-foot-2 transfer from Charlotte who is expected to step in as the starting center after Carson Cooper. Tom Izzo has shown plenty of confidence in Bonke, and the Spartans are banking on the blend of size, development and continuity that has long been part of the programs identity. Bonke is also expected to help ease the transition for incoming freshman Ethan Taylor, which adds another layer to why his role matters so much early.
Still, there is a bit of outside skepticism attached to the assignment. College Basketball Report left Bonke off its Top 30 centers in college basketball, even as several Big Ten big men earned spots on the list, underscoring how much Michigan State is asking him to prove right away. For a program that tends to trust its own developmental track, Bonkes season will be about more than simply filling minutes in the middle. [Read more 🡒]