Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State football as Jonathan Smith’s first fall camp begins

1. It’s not just fans. MSU’s players have been waiting for a new season for a while.

EAST LANSING – About the only remnants of last season that remain for Michigan State’s football team can be seen in the impact it’s having on the anticipation for this season.

A new season is always a fresh start. A new season that follows a miserable one is always the most welcome. And thus the overly positive vibes at Tuesday’s first practice of preseason camp, the first under new head coach Jonathan Smith.

MSU fans have been waiting for this. MSU’s players are just eager to get going, to set a new path, to play competitive football. To move on.

“Everybody’s excited about this season because last season was such a bad season,” MSU senior linebacker Cal Haladay said Tuesday. “… Last year was just hard for everybody.”

No one is making promises or predictions about how good this MSU team could be. There’s some buzz about certain players — at quarterback, receiver, tight end and defensive back, about the the potential for depth on the defensive line and linebacker. All stuff we’ve heard other years, even if some of the players are different. Sometimes it’s panned out. Sometimes not.

The only thing that’s just about certain is that it’ll be better this fall than a year ago. It can’t be worse.

2. All eyes on Aidan Chiles and MSU’s receivers

Among the reasons to think the Spartans might be competitive this season and perhaps have a chance to punch up in the Big Ten is the additions and possible improvements in the passing game, which averaged less than 200 yards per game last season.

That begins with sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles, who spent the summer working to fine tune his chemistry with MSU’s receivers. Smith described it Thursday as a “huge summer” for that group and said Chiles was…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/couch-3-quick-takes-michigan-211851156.html

Author : Lansing State Journal

Publish date : 2024-07-30 21:18:51

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