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HomeSPORTMichigan State football post-game grades: Western Michigan

Michigan State football post-game grades: Western Michigan


East Lansing was blessed with football for the first time in 2025 on Friday night, as Michigan State welcomed Western Michigan into its domain. Spartan fans, initially, were blessed with some high-energy, high-optimism production right out of the gate, before a second half fade wound up souring the mood of a 23-6 victory over the Broncos.

The Spartans’ best moments Friday night – in the overall run-game operation, in a swarming defense that pitched a shutout, in some elite special teams play – were really promising, the kind of stuff that felt like they might be poised to take more than a modest step forward from last year’s 5-7 campaign. 

Head coach Jonathan Smith said it wouldn’t be perfect, though, and he was right. MSU’s offense sputtered in the second half, its pass protection slipped, and, overall, the Spartans seemingly suffered from a loss of focus in the latter stages, which might be most troubling. The vibes were exuberant at first, but the air slowly leaked as MSU trudged to the finish line, a pick-six from backup quarterback Alessio Milivojevic spoiling a would-be shutout.

It’s still a 1-0 start, though, which is as good as any team can be after Week 1. And it was a far smoother opener than Smith and Co. had a year ago.

Below are first-reaction, position-by-position grades from MSU’s win over the Broncos:

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