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MSU football: Analyzing the Spartans heading into the opener vs. WMU
Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch and Freep beat writer Chris Solari break down the latest with MSU after Jonathan Smith’s Monday presser.
For a football program like Western Michigan, facing Michigan State has always been an uphill climb. Facilities, resources, the Big Ten brand in recruiting — it’s never been an entirely fair fight.
But this much felt fair: Both programs were compensating their players similarly (with scholarships) and, if they were able to recruit and/or develop an NFL player, for the most part, they could keep them all the way through their eligibility.
That made matchups like WMU’s visit to Spartan Stadium this Friday night not just paydays for the Mid-American Conference school, but a chance to show they could punch up. It was a showcase for their top guys. And the high-end talent often wasn’t that different.
For example, from 2004 to 2024, MSU produced 10 players selected in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. WMU produced nine. That number would be reversed if you were to put Green Bay Packers 2023 second-round pick Jayden Reed — who transferred from WMU to MSU — in the Broncos’ column.
Fifteen seasons ago, the Super Bowl between the Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers featured 15 players from the MAC — and also 15 from the Big Ten. It’s hard to imagine WMU receivers Greg Jennings or Corey Davis or Broncos offensive lineman and Okemos product Taylor Moton playing their senior years at WMU today.
Or someone like return man extraordinaire and defensive back Darius Phillips — who in 2015, had two dazzling returns against the Spartans in Kalamazoo. If that happened in the transfer portal era, Phillips would be playing for MSU the next year, rather than being one of six NFL draft picks on the Broncos’…
Source link : https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/columnists/graham-couch/2025/08/25/msu-football-first-opponent-wmu-faces-challenge-in-this-new-age/85814209007/
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Publish date : 2025-08-26 02:30:00
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