Nathan Carter clearly Michigan State football's best option at running back in win vs. CMU
EAST LANSING — Free Press sports writer Rainer Sabin answers three questions after Michigan State football's 31-7 win over Central Michigan in the season opener Friday at Spartan Stadium.
What to make of Mel Tucker’s QB decision?
It’s hard to believe what materialized Friday was Mel Tucker’s intended result when he decided to open a quarterback competition at the dawn of spring practice. That decision helped trigger Payton Thorne’s shocking transfer to Auburn in May. A wealth of experience departed with Thorne, a two-time captain with 26 starts and stats that placed him among the best passers in MSU history. Noah Kim and Katin Houser, his backups, had only logged a combined 44 snaps. Tucker was left to pick between the two of them, and he waited until Friday to reveal his choice of Kim. It was a curious move considering Kim is entering his fourth year in the program and had never overtaken Thorne. Houser, a four-star recruit in 2022, was seen as the future.
After MSU’s first five possessions Friday, Kim made many wonder why he was the preferred option. He completed only four of his first 12 attempts, sailing many of them high and wide. The accuracy issues were alarming and invited groans from fans. But then, suddenly, Kim came alive. On the penultimate drive of the first half, after CMU took a 7-3 lead, he connected twice with Jaron Glover and quickly guided MSU to the edge of the end zone. Moments later, running back Nathan Carter scored a two-yard touchdown. Kim’s breakthrough had come. From that point forward, he carved up CMU, completing 10 of his next 14 attempts for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
Did MSU’s ground attack regain the mojo it lost in 2022?
One of the major reasons for MSU’s rapid regression last fall was the precipitous decline of its running game. The departure of Kenneth Walker III, MSU’s one-year wonder who became the catalyst for the program’s 2021 resurgence, left a major void. Both Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard struggled to gain traction behind a shaky line, causing the offense to wilt. The Spartans’ ranked 111th in the nation in rushing, averaging 113 yards per game on the ground. So, Tucker went back to the transfer portal to find another spark plug, He landed on Carter, a UConn export who drew favorable comparisons to Walker upon arriving in East Lansing.
On MSU’s first play from scrimmage, it was easy to see why. He burst through the A gap on the opening play, racing 31 yards for a first down — tied for his longest carry on a night when he gained 113 yards on 18 attempts. Later, near the end of the second quarter, he scored MSU’s first touchdown on a dive up the middle. But in between those two moments, he was stopped twice for no gain on fourth-and-1, leading to a pair of turnovers on downs. The highs and lows of Carter’s night encapsulated the uneven performance of the rushing attack, which had only 91 yards entering the fourth quarter, with the outcome of the game was still in doubt. But it became clear over the course of the night that Carter, rather than Berger, gives MSU the best opportunity to recapture that 2021 formula.
THE GAME: Michigan State youngsters break out of sloppy start to crush Central Michigan, 31-7
What was the overall first impression?
The momentum was gone. So too was the excitement. MSU’s downturn in 2022, marked by a losing record, sapped the program of the positive juju that percolated during the Spartans’ sudden ascent two years ago. Before Friday, expectations had been tempered and a cloud of doubt enveloped the football headquarters. The Spartans, after all, were picked to finish fifth in their own seven-team division, and Tucker all but affirmed that his team was still a work in progress during an interview with the Lansing State Journal.
So, it wasn’t exactly surprising to see MSU drawn into a tense struggle with a Group of Five team in its opener. The Spartans still appear to be in draft mode, after all. The offense, by and large, is inconsistent and the defense lacks bite. It’s how the Chippewas remained within striking distance until the fourth quarter despite having obvious limitations in all sectors of their team. The most glaring of them all was its downfield passing game, which was virtually non-existent. CMU quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. rarely challenged the Spartans’ secondary, which has been a weak link in Tucker’s teams since he was hired in 2020. The longest of his 11 completions covered 17 yards and many of his passes traveled only to the first and second levels of MSU coordinator Scottie Hazelton’s defense. So, Emanuel instead relied on his legs to move CMU’s offense, which yielded mixed results.
By the time Emanuel exited the game with the outcome decided in the fourth quarter, his rush attempts equaled the number of throws he had made, and the threat he posed had long been extinguished. For that, some credit should go to Hazelton. But the quality of opponent must also be considered in assessing his performance — and MSU’s — in its entirety. It’s why it’s hard to get a true read on how good this MSU team is after one game that was a much tougher fight than the final score indicated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Nathan Carter gives Michigan State taste of 2021 magic
