Michigan State football vs. Richmond: Scouting report, prediction

Breaking down Michigan State football’s game on Saturday at home against Central Michigan:

Fast facts

Matchup: Michigan State (1-0) vs. Richmond (0-1).

Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.

TV/radio: Big Ten Network, WJR-AM (760).

Line: N/A.

Injury report

MSU: Out: OL Stanton Ramil (right knee), OL Gavin Broscious (left knee). Questionable: WR/KR Alante Brown (head/neck), RB Jaren Mangham (undisclosed), LB Darius Snow (right leg), DB Semar Melvin (undisclosed), LB Ma’a Gaoteote (undisclosed), DT Jarrett Jackson (undisclosed), DT Alex VanSumeren (undisclosed). Probable: C Nick Samac (upper body).

Richmond: Questionable: OG Cade Salyers (foot), WR Isaiah Wilson (wrist).

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Scouting report

When MSU has the ball: It was an ugly start for new quarterback Noah Kim and the Spartans’ offense in last Friday’s 31-7 win over Central Michigan, but the junior picked things up over the final 32 minutes to finish 18 of 31 for 279 yards and touchdowns to Tyrell Henry and Maliq Carr. Kim spread the ball to nine different receivers and got big downfield plays from redshirt freshman Jaron Glover and junior Christian Fitzpatrick. Kim’s offensive line kept him clean, with the only sack on him coming statistically with his intentional grounding penalty. They also opened enough holes for new running back Nathan Carter to rush for 113 yards on 18 carries, though he was stopped twice on fourth-and-1 for no gain and a turnover on downs in the first half. Richmond held Morgan State to just 213 yards, 114 of those on the ground, but lost to the unranked Bears, 17-10, at home last Saturday by giving up 10 unanswered fourth-quarter points. Linebacker Tristan Wheeler had 17 tackles and one of the Spiders’ three sacks in the loss. They generated three turnovers, recovering two of their four forced fumbles and getting an interception from redshirt freshman defensive back D’Angelo Stocker.

When Richmond has the ball: The Spartans’ defense bowed up in the second half after allowing 130 yards in the first half and a late touchdown pass on blown coverage. MSU shut out CMU after halftime and allowed just 89 yards in the final 40 minutes. Linebacker Cal Haladay had 10 tackles and an interception, which was the only turnover of the game. The Spartans made 10 tackles for a loss and got three sacks of mobile Chips QB Bert Emanuel Jr., hurrying him three other times. Their secondary went relatively unchallenged, not allowing a pass completion longer than 17 yards, but dropping at least two potential interceptions. New Richmond quarterback Kyle Wickersham went 23 of 30 for just 169 yards passing with an interception and no TDs in last Saturday’s 17-10 loss to unranked FCS foe Morgan State. It was the starting debut for the 6-foot-3, 225-pound sophomore, and the Spiders managed just 264 yards of offense, including a team-high 39 rushing yards on 21 carries for Wickersham. They turned the ball over four times, including three fumbles. Spiders kicker Andrew Lopes made one field goal attempt but missed a 44-yarder and had a 52-yard try blocked.

Know the foe

Fast fall: Richmond went 9-4 last season and made the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, its first postseason appearance since 2016, and entered last week No. 16 in the preseason FCS coaches poll. However, the Spiders dropped out of the rankings this week after losing at home as a 25½-point favorite to Morgan State. Richmond won the national championship in 2008 and following it with an FCS quarterfinals appearance the next season, but the Spiders have made the FCS playoffs just four times since and are 77-62 since 2010. Coach Russ Huesman, in his seventh season, is 33-30.

Protection problems: Wickersham was sacked five times and lost 29 yards on them against Morgan State and lost 2 yards on one other carry, though he ran for 70 yards on his other 15 attempts. Huseman pointed to bad blocking as a primary culprit. “Give Kyle a lot of credit, he took a lot of hits. He played,” Huesman said. “Probably not much more he could do.” The Spiders’ starting offensive line averages 6-4 and 304 pounds, with three seniors and two sophomores. Richmond allowed 26 sacks in 13 games last season.

Big-boy ball: The Spiders lost their lone FBS game last season at Virginia, 34-17. Running back Savon Smith, now a 5-9, 200-pound senior, had 88 yards rushing and two TDs against the Cavaliers (Morgan State held him to just 30 yards on 10 carries last week). Richmond has four road victories in 17 games against FBS opponents in the past 20 years, three of them against Duke and most recently winning at Virginia in 2016.

Two cents

New foe: This is the first meeting between the Spartans and Spiders, whose only other two games against Big Ten opponents were a 2015 season-opening loss at Maryland and a 7-6 defeat at Wisconsin in 1978. Richmond also played the Terps 18 times and Rutgers seven times before those schools joined the Big Ten. And despite both schools' Division I success in basketball, MSU and the Spiders have never met on the court. Richmond is the Spartans’ first first-time opponent in football since they beat Western Kentucky, 48-31, at home in 2021.

FCS perfection: MSU is 7-0 all-time against FCS opponents, most recently a 42-14 win over Youngstown State in 2021. All of those games have been at Spartan Stadium (Montana State in 2009, Northern Colorado in 2010, YSU in 2011 and 2013, Jacksonville State in 2014, Furman in 2016), with the Spartans outscoring those lower-division opponents 287-67 — an average score of 41.0-9.6.

Prediction

MSU 48, Richmond 10: Their defense dominates the day against an inferior opponent, but this a game where the Spartans’ offensive line will try to flex its muscle and delivers a pair of 100-yard rushers in Carter and Jalen Berger against the overmatched Spiders. Kim, a native of northern Virginia, shows less nerves in not being the focal point while building on his second-half rhythm against CMU. That allows Katin Houser and the rest of MSU’s young second- and third-unit guys to gain valuable experience with the game out of hand by halftime.

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 vs. Richmond: Scouting report, prediction