Michigan State's version of Week 1 was messier. Pat Fitzgerald's Spartans needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat Toledo 30-20 in his debut as head coach, with quarterback Alessio Milivojevic completing 26 of 34 passes for 247 yards but finding the end zone through the air just once. Kicker Liam Boyd made all five of his field goal tries to bail out an offense that kept stalling in Toledo territory, and Michigan State is still a heavy favorite on the spread here despite that grind.
Eastern Michigan is walking into a jump in competition — Sacramento State was a first-year FBS program, and Michigan State's front seven is a different animal. Spartan Stadium sits at 84 degrees and mostly sunny for kickoff, conditions that should keep both passing games clean rather than favor either side.
Both teams sit at 1-0, but they got there different ways. Eastern Michigan's win was tidy from the jump, with Kim running one in himself before finding Kozy Isaac and Nick Devereaux through the air. Michigan State's was a survival act — a game the Spartans trailed into the fourth quarter before the defensive front settled in and held Toledo to just 77 rushing yards overall.
The injury picture is the thing to watch on the home side. Linebacker Jordan Hall played through what looked like an elbow injury against Toledo, finishing with just 4 tackles on a limited snap count, and the Big Ten doesn't require availability reports for non-conference games, so there's no official word on how he looks Saturday. Running back Cam Edwards battled cramping late in the opener too. There's a lighter, personal thread running through all of it as well — Kim's closest friend since childhood, linebacker Caleb Wheatland, transferred into Michigan State's program this offseason, so somewhere on that field Saturday, two guys who've known each other since kindergarten will be lining up on opposite sidelines.