Michigan State football gets easy opponent in Week 2, so what's there to gain? Everything

EAST LANSING — Michigan State football has never lost to a Football Championship Subdivision opponent in seven previous games. The scores have been decidedly lopsided.

So what’s really to gain when they host Richmond on Saturday for the first meeting in the programs' histories?

Plenty.

MSU needs to come out strong and forceful and overwhelm the Spiders from the start. Last week’s dud of a first half in an eventual 31-7 victory over Central Michigan wasn’t the type of season-opening confidence-builder you'd like in recovering from last year's offensive issues. Which shouldn’t be a surprise with a new starting quarterback in Noah Kim and a cadre of young receivers getting their first extensive playing time.

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On defense, it is an opportunity to continue to get more live tackling, something Tucker pointed to as being an early and anticipated issue as the sport shifts to eliminate most preseason camp contact to minimize injuries. The Spartans, while mostly showing good recognition in their assignments, struggled to wrap up early but settled in and shut out CMU in the second half.

Yet there are two big things MSU must get out of its payday game against the Spiders (who made the FCS playoffs a year ago but dropped their opener at home last week): experience and good health.

Oh, and a convincing victory. Which, if everything goes right, should be inevitable.

Kim and the offense need to set the tone immediately. They need to score early and often and cannot have five possessions at the outset, like MSU did against CMU, that produced just 28 plays, 126 yards and three points. The junior quarterback must build on the consistency he showed in completing 14 of his final 19 passes for 229 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns. His receivers also need to eliminate the rhythm-disrupting drops they had in the first half of the opener, though that's another thing Tucker believes typically improves from the first to second game.

With last week’s game in the balance until those Kim TD tosses, it did not allow much substitution to work in younger players who are going to be needed for depth. Tackles Keyshawn Blackstock and Ethan Boyd played some early snaps but need more to integrate into the offensive line rotation, as do guards Kristian Phillips and Kevin Wigenton and those behind them. If the starters can score early and often, it will allow Chris Kapilovic to give his second unit an opportunity to roll out together, instead of spot duty.

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A dominating start also will allow for more freshmen to get their first chance to either show they can contribute this season or gain some experience to start their four-game clock toward preserving a redshirt. Last week, linebacker Jordan Hall, cornerback Chance Rucker, defensive end Jalen Thompson and safety Sean Brown were the only true freshmen to see action. And should things go the way last season’s 52-0 Week 2 win over Akron played out, even more could get their first taste of college football, experiencing playing in front of a huge crowd and the accelerated game speed compared to high school.

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And that also benefits the starters and veterans. Playing a lower-division opponent in Week 2 gives the Spartans a chance to iron out kinks in their execution and correct mistakes from the opener. It's not enough to take fewer penalties than the eight for 66 yards MSU had against CMU; Tucker needs his players to eliminate some of the foolish flags. Because those can’t happen next week, when his team’s schedule kicks into overdrive — first with No. 8 Washington visiting on Sept. 16 and then Big Ten play the rest of the way.

“You see a lot cleaner football as you go usually,” Tucker said Monday. “Guys start to settle down and execute and take it from a practice to the game. Sometimes guys that haven't been out there very much, for some reason, when they get in the game, it's different than what we what we practice. And that's the type of improvement we're looking to see.”

Tucker repeated the coaching axiom that teams generally show their most growth from Week 1 to Week 2. But could the unthinkable happen? Might MSU take a major step backward and — somehow, some way — lose to Richmond? Anything is possible in college football; we're only 16 years removed from Appalachian State stunning Michigan back in 2007, and Richmond took down a Power Five squad, Virginia, back in 2016.

But it's highly unlikely this time. After last season, according to fearthefcs.com, MSU and the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision own a 2,837-486-16 record all-time against FCS foes. There wasn't one upset last week in 42 FBS-vs.-FCS matchups. The Spartans have outscored FCS opponents all-time, 287-67.

Expect that to continue at Spartan Stadium on Saturday. And expect this to be much more about Tucker’s team focusing on much-needed self-improvement to make that happen.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football needs focus on self, show growth vs. Richmond