Be skeptical if you must, but Michigan State football opened the season with a statement the may be a prelude to a special 2021.
EVANSTON, Ill. — There’s a ways to go. Mel Tucker will tell you that. It’s also one game. Tucker will tell you that, too. Plenty of college football teams look like world-beaters on opening night against an opponent that turns out to be mediocre — or worse. ( See Michigan a year ago.) So, yeah, be cautious and skeptical all you want. Heck, be miserable if you insist, and dismiss what Michigan State football did Friday night at Ryan Field, road grating Northwestern,38-21. Just do it at your own emotional risk. Because I’d hate for you to miss out on what might be an unexpectedly fun and satisfying year. And by satisfying, I’m not talking about Big Ten titles and January bowl games. No, I’m talking about watching the kind of football that keeps you from taking bathroom breaks. Because, say, a transfer running back might take it the distance anytime he touches the ball. RAINER SABIN: Are MSU’s new additions sending a message to the Big Ten? Hello, Kenneth Walker III. So nice of you to quickly introduce yourself. A 75-yard run on your first touch as a Spartan? On the first offensive play of MSU’s season? After a juke in open space and a rocket burst down the sideline? It had been a while since we’ve seen that kind of vision and speed out of the backfield from a Spartan. Talk about the transfer portal, eh? Tucker may have known what he was doing. Not just with Walker, but with his most essential running mate, fellow transfer Jarrett Horst, a massive left tackle who hid NFL-level ability at Arkansas State for a couple of years.
