Michigan State’s trip to Wisconsin didn’t just end in a 31-3 loss. It also gave a clearer picture of where several Spartans stand in the rotation, and which players are starting to carve out bigger roles as the season grinds on.
One of the more noticeable shifts has come on defense with pass rusher Isaac Smith. His workload didn’t explode all at once, but his snap count against Power Four opponents has steadily climbed.
Smith played only 14 total defensive snaps across MSU’s first two non-conference games, logging five against Toledo and nine against Eastern Michigan. He then moved up to 15 snaps at Notre Dame, jumped to 45 against Nebraska, and finished with 26 at Wisconsin.
That rise appears to have cut into defensive end Keahnist Thompson’s share a bit. Thompson was on the field for at least 28 snaps in each of the first three games, then dropped to just seven against Nebraska.
His number bounced back to 26 at Wisconsin, while Smith’s usage dipped slightly. Smith looked like a player who might get buried on the depth chart before the season, but lately he has held his own.
Michigan State also got a first real look this season at wide receiver KK Smith. He had appeared only in the opener against Toledo, when he played 11 snaps.
Smith then sat out the next three games, though he was unavailable against Eastern Michigan. At Wisconsin, he finally got involved on offense, playing 24 snaps and catching one pass for 11 yards.
That kind of competition at receiver could help the Spartans, especially with Rodney Bullard Jr. and Fredrick Moore holding the starting spots so far without matching that status in production. There’s also a group of reserves that could merit more attention in games: Smith, Charles Taplin, Bryson Williams, Samson Gash, and Braylon Collier.
Saturday also brought an unexpected turn in the secondary, where true freshman cornerback Jeremiah Favorite was called on for meaningful work. Cornerback has been a thin spot for Michigan State, and the Spartans were without starter Tyran Chappell as well as reserves NiJhay Burt and Keshawn Williams. Tre Bell returned after missing the Nebraska game, but MSU still needed another corner to fill out the rotation.
Favorite ended up taking that CB3 role for the week, which stands out because he had not played at all before Wisconsin. Third-year player Andrew Brinson IV had been the expected option after stepping in last Saturday, so Favorite clearly made his case in practice.
He played 20 snaps, was targeted once, and the pass fell incomplete. He also logged seven coverage snaps.
Up front, Michigan State’s interior defensive line is becoming more centered on Ben Roberts and Eli Coenen. Early in the season, the Spartans used more of a true rotation, with Derrick Simmons and Mikeshun Beeler getting significant work as well. Simmons was still generally the third tackle in the mix, but he played only 13 snaps against Wisconsin, matching his season low from the opener, when MSU’s defense was on the field for 17 fewer plays.
Roberts and Coenen are earning those snaps because they’ve played well, but that heavier workload may be hard to keep up all season. Pat Fitzgerald may also want to get younger players more involved as the year continues to tilt downward. Simmons, a former 4-star recruit and redshirt freshman, could be one of the candidates for that expanded look.
Michigan State’s “jumbo” packages are fading too. Antonio Johnson has usually been the sixth offensive lineman in those special sets, but he has played only three offensive snaps over the last two games, including just one at Wisconsin on Friday.
Some of that comes down to how little the offense has done. The Spartans have only led once during their three-game losing streak, and that was a brief 3-0 edge against Nebraska. When you’re usually trailing, the playbook leans toward passes, not extra linemen.
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