Michigan State vs. Toledo Game Preview

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After a bit of a rollercoaster ride this summer, at MSU and throughout college athletics, it’s nearly time for some action on the field.  Thankfully.  

Here’s just a brief recap of what’s happened over the last several months:

Michigan State lost President Guskiewicz to Clemson.  Tom Izzo got angry.  Athletic Director J Batt then departed for Kentucky.  No one seemed too upset.  Guskiewicz changed his mind and spurned Clemson to stay in East Lansing.  Izzo, Pat Fitzgerald, and most folks associated with MSU seemed happy.  Guskiewicz got back to work and brought in Dan Bartholomae from Western Michigan to replace Batt, just in time for Friday’s kick off with the Toledo Rockets.  

It’s been just as topsy-turvy around the rest of the country, with the NCAA, former student-athletes, and the courts battling it out to determine if there are going to be any limits whatsoever on who can be a college athlete.  

The United States Senate even tried to get involved but failed to pass the Protect College Sports Act before their August recess.  It will be interesting to see if they renew their efforts when session resumes.  

Who knows how long this may go on.  Or what effect will it all ultimately have on college sports and fans around the country.  But, in addition to everything outside the arenas of competition, at least now we’re on the brink of actually having things play out on the field.

Michigan State gets the football season started by hosting the Toledo Rockets Friday night at Spartan Stadium (8 PM, FS1).  Both teams feature new head coaches and a lot of roster turnover from last season.  Let’s take a closer look at this Big Ten vs. Mid American Conference matchup.

Introduction

Probably no one is more excited to run out of the Spartan Stadium tunnel on Friday than Pat Fitzgerald, who returns to coach his first college football game since 2022.  

TOC readers who have been following our position group and season previews know that when Fitzgerald took over at MSU, he retained defensive coordinator Joe Rossi while bringing in OC Nick Sheridan from Alabama and highly regarded special teams coordinator/assistant head coach LeVar Woods from Iowa.  

In addition to the new faces on the coaching staff, 53 new Spartans join the team, either as high school recruits or through the transfer portal.  

Michigan State is coming off a 4-8 season and hasn’t been to a bowl game in four years.  As such, outside expectations remain rather low for MSU this season.  Fitzgerald, on the other hand, said at Big Ten media days that a conference championship is always the goal, while acknowledging that the other 17 league coaches would probably say the same thing.  

Realistically, before they can compete for a Big Ten championship, the Spartans will need to simply make it back to a bowl game.  Getting off on the right foot against Toledo is a crucial step along this path.  

Toledo Overview

The Rockets have had a busy off season of their own.  After going 8-5 overall, including 6-2 in the MAC, and closing the 2025 season with a 27-22 loss to Louisville in the Boca Raton Bowl, head coach Jason Candle left Toledo for Connecticut.  

Toledo looked to the FCS ranks and brought in Mike Jacobs from Mercer to replace Candle.  Jacobs went 20-6 in two seasons at Mercer and went to the FCS playoffs in both 2024 and 2025.  In 24 years as a head coach, Jacobs’ record is an impressive 94-23 (.803).  Jacobs, like Fitzgerald, needed to be active in the transfer portal to retool the Rockets’ roster.

Key losses for the Rockets from 2025 include:

• Quarterbacks Tucker Gleason (graduation) and Kalieb Osborne (transfer to UConn).
• All MAC running back Chip Trayanum (1015 yards, 12 TDs)
• Wide receiver Junior Vandeross III (1008 yards, 11 TDs)
• Safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (NFL draft 2^nd round – Cleveland Browns)
• Cornerback Andre Fuller (NFL draft 7^th round – Seattle Seahawks)

Key returners for 2026:

• Offensive linemen Stephen Gales, Ibrahim Traore, and Jonathan Harder
• Wide receiver / return specialist Bryson Hammer, who averaged 12.1 yards per punt return last year
• John Alan Richter is expected to be the starting quarterback after patiently waiting his turn as a backup for the past two years.  

Key additions for 2026:

• Jacobs brought defensive end Andrew Zock with him from Mercer.  Zock won the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS with 20 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks.  
• Running back CJ Miller also arrives from Mercer, where he ran for 957 yards and 14 TDs last season.
• Spartan fans hopefully remember safety Armorion Smith, who is now at Toledo.  Smith started seven games at MSU last season, recording 35 tackles, one interception, and two pass break ups.    

Toledo Strengths and Weaknesses

Obviously, coming into game one, there are numerous unknowns surrounding both teams.  However, when considering what Toledo lost, brought back, and gained through the portal, these could be some potential strengths and weaknesses when they face the Spartans:

• Strength: Trenches.  Returners on the offensive line and adding Zock to the defense line might help Toledo hold their own up front.
• Strength: Special Teams.  Woods’ Spartan special teams unit could get an early test from Hammer’s abilities in the return game.
• Weakness: Unproven ability at the quarterback position.  Richter is listed as a junior on Toledo’s roster, after taking a redshirt in 2023.  He’s played in just nine games, completing 63 of 96 passes (65.6%) for 699 yards, 7 TDs, and 1 INT. 
• Weakness: Unproven secondary, which must replace two NFL draft picks.  
• Weakness: Unproven offensive skill position players.  The Rockets must replace their leading receiver and running back from a year ago.

Key Match Ups and What to Watch

Spartans in the trenches.  It seems like it’s been years since MSU had an offensive line that could impose its will and a defensive line that can be a disruptive force.  Fitzgerald has talked about the depth of the offensive line and there seems to be some optimism surrounding this group.  

On defense, however, Michigan State appears to be looking to North Carolina State transfer Kenny Soares to help with the pass rush.  In a new Fitzgerald tradition, Soares was voted “The Spartan” by his teammates and will wear jersey #1 for MSU.  Soares, however, played mostly linebacker at NC State.  How he makes the transition to edge rusher is an obvious key for the Spartans this year.  In a recent Red Cedar Round Up podcast, TOC’s Robbie Bettelon hosted Jacob Cotsonika of Spartans Illustrated who noted that Soares switched to linebacker to help with the Wolfpack’s deficiencies at that position, and he’s actually been more of rush end throughout his career.  

Hopefully Soares is back in his natural spot and can improve MSU’s ability to make the quarterback uncomfortable.  As mentioned above, Toledo’s offensive line looks like a strength for this team but if the Spartans can’t create at least some havoc against a MAC team with a first-year starting quarterback, it could be an unfortunate sign for the defense.  

Can the Spartan receivers gain separation and how will MSU use their tight ends?

MSU returns just 30 receptions from last year’s team, and most of those belong to Chrishon McCray.  Some of Toledo’s unproven position groups were mentioned above but the Spartan receivers have to fall into this category as well.

Will these guys be able to get open?  Or is Alessio Milivojevic going to need to thread every single throw into a tight window?  Will Sheridan employ a lot of two or three tight end sets to help out with the receiving group?  Will MSU be able to force Toledo’s second and third defensive levels closer to the line of scrimmage with an effective running game and open things up for Alessio and the pass catchers?  

Again, if MSU struggles to run it effectively on what is expected to be a mid to upper level MAC team, it could be an alarm for the rest of the year.   

Fitzgerald got his groove back? 

A guy goes 4-20 in his last two years as a college coach – which was before NIL and the portal – now gets a second chance.  Fitzgerald has certainly expressed his gratitude and hit the ground running. The MSU player reps at Big Ten Media days (Jordan Hall, Nikai Martinez, Milivojevic) expressed their appreciation for an improved culture and brotherhood under Fitzgerald. But how is this unique situation actually going to play out for Fitzgerald and MSU?

One game is certainly not going to answer this question.  It may not even prove to be a hint but it just seems like a pretty fascinating story line.  Unfortunately, it also seems like this angle is not getting much attention because MSU football hasn’t been good for a while – if they were, they wouldn’t have needed to hire Fitzgerald.  

Adding to the intrigue is that Fitzgerald never even got to coach a game under the AD that hired him (Batt).  How patient is new AD Bartholomae going to be with his new football coach if MSU really struggles this year?  

What to Expect

Honestly, I have no idea for game one.  The Spartans are the obvious favorite but Toledo was a very solid team under Candle and Jacobs is a proven winner.  While they may not contend for the MAC title this year, the Rockets shouldn’t be at the bottom of the conference either.  I don’t see the Spartans losing a Friday night opener but it’s hard to picture a routing of the Rockets either.  Unfortunately, I think Toledo hangs around and makes this one moderately uncomfortable well into the second half.  

What do you think, TOC?  How excited are you for kickoff to finally arrive, what are your keys to the game, and what do you think happens on Friday night?  

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