Michigan State football fills final hole in 2024 schedule: Here's the new opponent
The new era of Michigan State football under head coach Jonathan Smith is well underway in East Lansing and eyes are pointing to the Spartans' 2024 schedule to see if they can hit the ground running.
MSU was able to find an opponent for the spot left open by Louisiana, which backed out of the Sept. 14 matchup: Prairie View A&M. The FCS opponent out of the SWAC conference was 6-6 last season, including a 3-3 road mark. The Panthers fell to Florida A&M in the SWAC championship game in December.
Michigan State sputtered to a 4-8 finish after former head coach Mel Tucker was fired in the first month of the season. Harlon Barnett took over as interim head coach in Week 3, but the shaken Spartans went 2-8 after starting 2-0.
MSU will try to get rid of that sour taste in Smith's first year as the Big Ten expands to include four schools from his former conference, the Pac-12. Michigan State will face one of the new conference members — Oregon — and have one nonconference road game against a Power 5 opponent in Boston College. Outside of that, Michigan State will host two group of 5 teams to complete the nonconference schedule to go along with the new "Flex Protect Plus" nine-game conference schedule.
MSU will have two bye weeks on the schedule, since Labor Day marks the official start of the college football season. There will be 14 Saturdays available for game day between Week 1 and the final week of the season at the end of November.
MORE: Big Ten 2024 football schedules for every team
Here is a breakdown of the 2024 MSU football schedule. All dates are finalized but kickoff times are still to be announced at a later date.
Michigan State football 2024 schedule
Week 1, Aug. 31: vs. Florida Atlantic
Week 2, Sept. 7: at Maryland*
Week 3, Sept. 14: vs. Prairie View A&M (FCS)
Week 4, Sept. 21: at Boston College
Week 5, Sept. 28: vs. Ohio State*
Week 6, Oct. 5: at Oregon*
Week 7: BYE
Week 8, Oct. 19: vs. Iowa*
Week 9, Oct. 26: at Michigan*
Week 10, Nov. 2: vs. Indiana*
Week 11: BYE
Week 12, Nov. 16: at Illinois*
Week 13, Nov. 23: vs. Purdue*
Week 14, Nov. 30: vs. Rutgers*
Big Ten championship game, Dec. 7: TBA, Indianapolis
*Big Ten conference game
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football fills 2024 schedule with Prairie View A&M
