Michigan State’s 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan was decided in the second half, but the snap counts tell their own story. The Spartans got to 2-0 in 2026 while using 31 players on offense and 20 on defense, according to Pro Football Focus, and a few patterns jumped right off the page.
The biggest one: MSU appears ready to rotate beyond its original starting five on the offensive line. Last week against Toledo, some of the movement up front looked like a forced adjustment with starting left tackle Ben Murawski sidelined for much of the second half. Murawski was back available Saturday, but the Spartans still mixed and matched.
Twelve different offensive linemen saw the field against Eastern Michigan, though several of those appearances came with the second-team offense on the final drive. The group that mattered most was smaller, with eight linemen logging meaningful work. Michigan State opened with Murawski at left tackle, Conner Moore at left guard, Trent Fraley at center, Nick Sharpe and Rakeem Johnson on the right side.
But the backups are clearly part of the plan now. Guard Luka Vincic, tackle Robert Wright Jr., and tackle Antonio Johnson all got real run.
Johnson has mostly filled a specialized sixth-lineman role, while Vincic logged 14 snaps in Sharpe’s spot at right guard. Wright was on the field for 38 snaps at right tackle, the most on the team.
Johnson added 18 snaps at left tackle for Murawski.
Even with the win, the line still looks like the group most in need of steady improvement. The second half against Eastern Michigan was better, but the Spartans know that unit has to be much stronger to hold up against Notre Dame and throughout Big Ten play, and to be the first competent O-line Michigan State has had in a while.
Another spot that now looks unsettled is nickelback. Louisiana Tech transfer Michael Richard entered the offseason as the clear starter there, but his outing against Toledo raised some questions.
Those questions got louder Saturday, when fifth-year defensive back NiJhay Burt cut into Richard’s workload. Richard went from 42 snaps against the Rockets to just 21 against the Eagles.
Burt’s path to that role has been quieter. He transferred in from Eastern Illinois and spent last season mostly waiting his turn, appearing in four games to preserve a redshirt. He played only 11 defensive snaps in 2025 and did not appear against Toledo, but he earned 17 snaps against Eastern Michigan after apparently showing enough in practice.
The game also gave Michigan State a look at a receiver who barely got on the field but made it count. Charles Taplin played just eight offensive snaps, yet he turned them into three catches, 65 yards and a touchdown. He had not played against Toledo, so even getting meaningful work was notable.
His score was the first of his college career, a 38-yard deep ball that stretched the lead to 28-7 and all but put the game away in the third quarter. The staff and Courtney Hawkins have liked Taplin’s speed, and he showed it there as the first Michigan State receiver this season to get behind a defense and haul in a pass.
The lopsided finish also opened the door for a few more young players to get their first non-special teams snaps. Wide receivers Samson Gash and Braylon Collier both played 10 snaps, center Drew Nichols got 10, tackle Collin Campbell had three, and running back Zion Gist logged three.
Gash and Campbell are true freshmen and the first members of MSU’s 2026 recruiting class to see action beyond special teams. Safety Jonathan Granby was the only true freshman to play in the opener, and that came on kick coverage.
Gash’s debut also came with a family angle, since his brother, Gideon Gash, was in the building. Gideon is a high-4-star recruit from Detroit Catholic Central who is currently verbally committed to Texas Tech, though Michigan State does not seem to have backed off that recruitment after his surprise visit Saturday.
Campbell’s early involvement may be just as important for the future. He was the top recruit in the Spartans’ 2026 class, ranked 197th overall in the 247Sports Composite. Offensive linemen usually need time to get ready physically, so even earning a second-team role is a promising start.
In Other News...
Michigan State Fans Have A New Offensive Debate After Saturdays Surge
Michigan States 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan gave first-year coach Pat Fitzgerald another clean step forward, but it also added a new layer to the conversation around the offense. The Spartans are 2-0, and while Alessio Milivojevic steadied himself after a slow start, the unit looked far more dynamic once the game opened up in the second half. Cam Edwards kept the ground game moving with a big day, showing how much easier things can look when the run game is setting the tone.
Cam Fancher also gave the offense a different rhythm as the backup quarterback, and that change of pace may be the part fans keep circling back to after a comfortable win. Fitzgerald has reasons to feel good about where the team is headed, but the way the quarterback rotation unfolded, paired with Edwards impact and Milivojevics uneven start, left just enough to wonder how this offense will look when the competition gets tougher. [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 🡒]