A quick look at MSU’s games @ Illinois, vs. Purdue, and vs. Rutgers
Time to take a look at the end of MSU’s schedule. While the middle of the 2024 slate is undoubtedly the toughest, the home stretch will give MSU the chance to clinch a bowl berth, perhaps a mid-tier one at that, against some teams that are not expected to be near the top of the Big Ten standings. All three of these teams finished 2023 with a 3-6 conference record.
November 16 – Illinois (away)
November 22 – Purdue (home)
November 30 – Rutgers (home)
ILLINOIS
A familiar name leads MSU’s final road opponent of 2024. Bret Bielema, the former Wisconsin coach from 2006-12, is entering his fourth season in Champaign. In his first three years, the Illini have gone 5-7, 8-5 with a bowl loss, and 5-7 again. Not traditionally a football school, it makes sense that this program would struggle to achieve and maintain success on a yearly basis.
That said, Illinois does have some things going for it in 2024. The first is continuity at the quarterback position. Luke Altmeyer returns for his redshirt sophomore year after starting nine games for Illinois last year. He started his college career at Mississippi before transferring. In his nine games last year, he threw for 1,883 yards and 13 touchdowns, and also rushed for 282 yards. He completed a respectable 65% of his passes last year.
One thing that should help boost Altmeyer’s production this year is the addition of WR Zakhari Franklin, a grad transfer. In four years at Texas-San Antonio, Franklin saw his numbers increase each year, including going over 1,000 yards and a dozen touchdowns in each of his two final years for the Roadrunners. Last year, he played for Mississippi, but only played in four games to keep a redshirt and have one more year of eligibility.
On defense, Illinois lost its best player to the NFL as defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton was drafted in the second round by Washington. In fact, both their starting DTs from 2023 are now in the pros. They will have to rebuild their line. Behind that, they do return a good deal of talent. Seth Coleman is an outside linebacker who had 50 tackles, 9 TFLs, and 6 sacks last year on his way to All-Big Ten honorable mention. Illinois deploys a 3-4 defense, and all of their projected starting linebackers were starters a year ago. On the back end, they bring in cornerback Terrance Brooks from Texas. Brooks earned All-Big 12 honorable mention last year thanks to his three interceptions and six passes broken up. Along with Brooks, Illinois gets back their two leading interceptors from last year, Xavier and Miles Scott (not brothers).
PURDUE
Michigan State’s penultimate game is a Friday night lights affair against the Boilermakers. I’ll be blunt about it, most preseason predictions have Purdue finishing last in the Big Ten. This is largely due to them having perhaps the toughest conference schedule with Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State all on the docket (and all in a four-week span to boot). The good news for us Spartans is that those two games against the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions immediately precede the Boilermaker’s visit to East Lansing, so they may be a tired and battered team by the time they come to town on a short week.
Hudson Card is the quarterback. Card earned the starting job last year after arriving from Texas. He was one of the top QBs in the 2020 class. He threw for 2,387 yards and 15 TDs last year. He also ran for 203 yards and 5 more TDs. He is a dual threat. Unfortunately for him, he lost his top four receivers from last year and will have to find comfort in a new set of targets. The running game should be formidable, however. Devin Mockobee (811 yards last year) and Reggie Love III (567 yards last year while playing at Illinois) give Purdue a pair of runners that can get it done.
Last year, Purdue’s pass defense was the Big Ten’s worst. Playing a 4-3 formation, their nose tacke, Cole Brevard, is among the best run stuffers in the conference. Yanni Karlaftis, younger brother of Kansas City Chief George Karlaftis, becomes an upperclassman this year and is developing into a solid defender in his own right, recording 55 tackles in 2023. And safety Dillon Thieneman was one of the best true freshmen in the nation last year. He led Purdue in tackles (106) and interceptions (6, good for third nationally). If he improved over the offseason, he becomes a very serious weapon. The big issue here is that the rest of the defense is not nearly as good as the top guy in each unit.
RUTGERS
Senior day brings the Scarlet Knights to town. Thanks to one of the nation’s easiest non-conference schedules last year, Rutgers actually had a winning record in 2023, thanks to its bowl win to finish 7-6. This year, they play another cakewalk non-con slate (Howard, Akron, @ Va Tech). In addition, their Big Ten schedule is void of Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, and um. Basically, they could be better than their record hints at in 2024.
The Knights bring in a transfer to take over as quarterback. Athan Kaliakmanis from Minnesota will lead the offense, but his stats are not intimidating anyone. This team will probably rely on the run more than the pass. Senior Kyle Monangai led the Big Ten with 1,262 yards rushing a season ago. The offensive line also features a ton of continuity in a unit that gave up the fewest sacks in the conference in 2023.
On the flip side, Rutgers had the B1G’s worst pass rush last season. That said, they still finished 16th nationally in giving up just 21 PPG. The secondary is the highlight of the defense. Robert Longerbeam is back for one more year. He had 11 PBUs last season andd has 29 for his career. They play a nickel defense as their base formation. Safeties Flip Dixon and Shaquan Loyal are also both proven commodities at knocking the ball away at the last second. But on a cold November day in East Lansing, Michigan State could be looking to run the ball more than pass.