Friday, September 1
East Lansing, MI
7 PM
Michigan State University
1-0 , 0-0
31
vs
7
Central Michigan
0-1 , 0-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Central Mich.
0
7
0
0
7
Michigan St.
0
10
7
14
31
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Michigan State Uses Big Second Half to Beat Central Michigan, 31-7
9/1/2023 11:02:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Redshirt junior quarterback Noah Kim threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns and redshirt sophomore running back Nathan Carter ran for 113 yards and one score as Michigan State scored three times in the second half en route to a 31-7 win over Central Michigan in the season opener for both teams at Spartan Stadium Friday night.
Kim, making his first career start, completed 18-of-31 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his scoring throws came in the fourth quarter, a 10-yard pass to Tyrell Henry and an 8-yard pass to Maliq Carr.
Carter, a transfer from UConn, carried 18 times for 113 yards and gave MSU the lead for good with a 2-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. Redshirt junior running back Jalen Berger, who finished with eight carries for 24 yards, scored on a 12-yard run in the third quarter.
Redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay led the Spartans with 10 tackles, including one for loss, and had his third career interception. Malik Spencer finished with nine tackles, while Jacoby Windmon added eight, including one for loss and a sack, and Angelo Grose had six tackles, including one for loss.
"I'm happy for how our guys played with effort," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "Obviously we have a lot to clean up. I want to give Central Michigan a lot of credit – Coach McElwain does a great job preparing his guys. He has a good staff, and they play hard. They're going to win some football games this year. We started off slow, but we kept chopping, being able to execute in all three phases and get the win. We're 1-0; we have a 24-hour rule, and move on to Richmond."
After a scoreless first quarter, Jonathan Kim connected on his first collegiate field goal, a 47-yarder, to give MSU a 3-0 lead with 6:55 left in the second quarter.
The Chippewas took a 7-3 lead after driving 70 yards in just three plays, capped by a Bert Emanuel Jr. touchdown pass to Chris Parker in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown, with 1:51 remaining in the first half.
MSU quickly responded with a seven-play, 84-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. Kim and Glover connected on both a 32-yard and 33-yard reception on the scoring drive, and Carter scored his first TD as a Spartan with a 2-yard run with 57 seconds left in the half.
The Spartans went up 17-7 at the 2:42 mark in the third quarter on a 12-yard touchdown run by Berger.
On MSU's first series in the fourth quarter, Kim found Christian Fitzpatrick on the sideline for a long pass, and he broke free for a 72-yard reception that set up first-and-goal. Two plays later, Kim threw his first touchdown of the season to Henry, who made a one-handed leaping grab in the end zone for a 10-yard score to put MSU on top 24-7.
Michigan State took a 31-7 lead with 9:05 left in the game on Carr's 8-yard touchdown reception from Kim, capping a five-play, 55-yard drive that took just over two minutes.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 9 to face Richmond in Spartan Stadium at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Kim, making his first career start, completed 18-of-31 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his scoring throws came in the fourth quarter, a 10-yard pass to Tyrell Henry and an 8-yard pass to Maliq Carr.
Carter, a transfer from UConn, carried 18 times for 113 yards and gave MSU the lead for good with a 2-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. Redshirt junior running back Jalen Berger, who finished with eight carries for 24 yards, scored on a 12-yard run in the third quarter.
Redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay led the Spartans with 10 tackles, including one for loss, and had his third career interception. Malik Spencer finished with nine tackles, while Jacoby Windmon added eight, including one for loss and a sack, and Angelo Grose had six tackles, including one for loss.
"I'm happy for how our guys played with effort," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "Obviously we have a lot to clean up. I want to give Central Michigan a lot of credit – Coach McElwain does a great job preparing his guys. He has a good staff, and they play hard. They're going to win some football games this year. We started off slow, but we kept chopping, being able to execute in all three phases and get the win. We're 1-0; we have a 24-hour rule, and move on to Richmond."
After a scoreless first quarter, Jonathan Kim connected on his first collegiate field goal, a 47-yarder, to give MSU a 3-0 lead with 6:55 left in the second quarter.
The Chippewas took a 7-3 lead after driving 70 yards in just three plays, capped by a Bert Emanuel Jr. touchdown pass to Chris Parker in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown, with 1:51 remaining in the first half.
MSU quickly responded with a seven-play, 84-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. Kim and Glover connected on both a 32-yard and 33-yard reception on the scoring drive, and Carter scored his first TD as a Spartan with a 2-yard run with 57 seconds left in the half.
The Spartans went up 17-7 at the 2:42 mark in the third quarter on a 12-yard touchdown run by Berger.
On MSU's first series in the fourth quarter, Kim found Christian Fitzpatrick on the sideline for a long pass, and he broke free for a 72-yard reception that set up first-and-goal. Two plays later, Kim threw his first touchdown of the season to Henry, who made a one-handed leaping grab in the end zone for a 10-yard score to put MSU on top 24-7.
Michigan State took a 31-7 lead with 9:05 left in the game on Carr's 8-yard touchdown reception from Kim, capping a five-play, 55-yard drive that took just over two minutes.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 9 to face Richmond in Spartan Stadium at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Team Stats
CMU
MSU
Total Yards
219
406
Pass Yards
96
279
Rushing Yards
123
127
Penalty Yards
75
66
1st Downs
19
20
3rd Downs
3
5
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
34:26
25:34
2nd Quarter
CMU 0, MSU 3
MSU - Kim,Jonathan 47 yd field goal 5 plays, 16 yards, TOP 01:22
CMU 7, MSU 3
CMU - Parker,Chris 12 yd pass from Emanuel, Jr.,Bert (Mattson,Tristan kick) 3 plays, 70 yards, TOP 01:20
CMU 7, MSU 10
MSU - Carter,Nate 2 yd run (Kim,Jonathan kick), 7 plays, 84 yards, TOP 00:57
3rd Quarter
CMU 7, MSU 17
MSU - Berger,Jalen 12 yd run (Kim,Jonathan kick), 5 plays, 45 yards, TOP 02:50
4th Quarter
CMU 7, MSU 24
MSU - Henry,Tyrell 10 yd pass from Kim,Noah (Kim,Jonathan kick) 3 plays, 82 yards, TOP 01:24
CMU 7, MSU 31
MSU - Carr,Maliq 8 yd pass from Kim,Noah (Rusnak,Stephen kick) 5 plays, 55 yards, TOP 02:02
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
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TE
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RB
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WR
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DB
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LB
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WR
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K
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DB
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LB
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