Rutgers football game week opponent profile: Michigan State
The Rutgers football team comes home this weekend for its Homecoming game against Michigan State. The Scarlet Knights (4-2, 1-2) lost last week's game against Wisconsin by a score of 24-13.
This weekend, Rutgers is looking to bounce back against the Spartans (2-3, 0-2), who are heading into Saturday's game with a three-game losing streak.
A multitude of controversies have headlined the Michigan State football team this season, including the suspension and subsequent firing of Mel Tucker after a sexual misconduct scandal.
The Daily Targum sat down with Nick Lundberg, the football beat writer for Michigan State's student newspaper, The State News, to discuss the matchup and what the Spartans will look like this weekend.
"It feels like a community. People are rallying together," Lundberg said about the atmosphere on campus after the news of the coach’s firing. "Everyone is coming together as students, supporting the players, the university and whatever decisions have been made."
The team's offense has not played up to snuff in the past three games, being held to 32 total points against Washington, Maryland and Iowa.
Noah Kim, who has started the first five games of the season, may have lost his starting job, with Katin Houser or Sam Leavitt potentially starting under center this Saturday.
Kim has struggled with turnovers this season, with six interceptions, three of which came in the Spartans' game against Iowa two weeks ago before their bye week.
"Turnovers just killed the team," Lundberg said about Kim's up-and-down start to the season. "He's obviously in his first time starting, so he is still kind of getting used to starting against Big Ten defenses. I feel like some of his reads come too quickly, and he just kind of just tries to force things when they aren’t there."
If Michigan State decides not to pass the ball often against the Knights, the team will look to Nate Carter to move the ball on the ground.
Carter has three 100-plus yard rushing games this season and has reached the end zone four times. His explosiveness and dexterity will challenge Rutgers' "Dark Side defense."
"Carter is good for 20 to 30 carries this weekend," Lundberg said about Carter’s workload. "I’m sure he’ll get a decent amount of touches."
Another key player for the Knights to watch is Jaron Glover. The redshirt freshman has 212 receiving yards with 10 receptions and is an important piece to the Spartans' offense that Rutgers should be aware of.
Michigan State's Tre Mosley has been dependable in his five-year tenure with the team. He has caught 17 passes for 192 yards and a score this year, adding to his career resume of more than 1,300 yards.
"(Glover) has been pretty big this year, sophomore receiver, and then you've got some of the older guys like (Mosley) who’s always been a reliable target," said Lundberg.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Spartans have struggled at times to keep them from scoring.
Angelo Grose, though, has been a bright spot as he has picked off opposing quarterbacks twice already this year, which is a career-high. Grose’s counterpart, Jaden Mangham, recorded an interception in the team's loss to Washington.
Dillon Tatum has starred this season, racking up 29 total tackles along with three pass breakups.
"(Grose) has had a couple of picks against Iowa, Mangham had a pick against Maryland, (Tatum) has been making nice tackless … So I think there are some pieces there, and they’re learning as they go throughout the season, but it really just starts up front," Lundberg said about the promising defense and what the team needs to do this weekend.
The Knights will need to move the ball efficiently and limit turnovers to secure a win on Saturday afternoon.
"There’s not really much margin of error with (Michigan State) if it wants to win a game," Lundberg said on Rutgers' chances against the team. "I think (Rutgers) just needs to establish the run … If you do that ... it really opens up the passing game. With MSU having a young secondary, that can really cause some issues and miscommunication leading to scores."
Lundberg predicts that Michigan State will fall to Rutgers by a score of 24-17.
Kickoff is set for noon, and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Listeners can also tune in to 88.7 WRSU FM.
For more updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @TargumSports on X.
