RB Nathan Carter will do what Jalen Berger couldn’t
A year ago, Mel Tucker and his players spent the months between winning the Peach Bowl for a top-10 finish and the opening the 2022 season telling everyone Michigan State football wanted to take it a step farther: A national title.
Then the games began. And the injuries. And, eventually, the losing.
It all resulted in Tucker’s team staying at home in December for the second time in his three years in East Lansing. That makes this season a pivotal one for his program.
Here are three bold projections for the 2023 season as the Spartans prepare to open Friday.
Carter hits it grand at RB
Enter Nathan Carter, who moves into the Big Ten from independent UConn. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound native of Rochester, New York, suffered a season-ending shoulder separation against Michigan last year in the Huskies’ fourth game, allowing him to use a redshirt year.
The sophomore arrives at MSU with 983 yards and three touchdowns in 190 carries. But Carter impressed the staff all spring and in preseason camp with his ability to hit holes hard and fast while powering through contact. That is aided by Walker-like legs that — although not quite matching the 2021 Doak Walker Award winner’s — give Carter an edge over fellow transfer arrival Jaren Mangham (South Florida) and Jalen Berger for the starting job. This season, expect Carter to join Walker as MSU’s only 1,000-yard rushers since Jeremy Langford (2013-14).
Houser earns QB job — eventually
It’s unclear how much separation there is between Noah Kim and Katin Houser in the Spartans’ QB competition, as Tucker issued a gag order on any information about the quarterback spot. But there were hints throughout August that Kim’s maturity as a fourth-year junior gives him an edge in terms of decisionmaking ability and the poise to recover steadily from mistakes or broken plays.
Kim — whose first collegiate experience last year was 38 snaps over four games — also is the last remaining scholarship quarterback of the Dantonio era. Houser presents a different upside, as his teammates and coaches have labeled him a gunslinger and risk-taker who is unafraid to try and make big plays.
At some point this season, Tucker will need to know what he has in Houser, a 2022 four-star. However, expect Kim to start early, with both getting reps in the first two weeks. After that, it’s up to how frequently Kim turns it over, how poorly MSU’s offense moves the ball or a potential injury. But by the start of Big Ten play — say, Sept. 23 against Maryland and Sept. 30 against Iowa — expect Houser to emerge on top, with his performance dictating whether Tucker reopens the job in 2024 for Sam Leavitt, a four-star recruit who might have been more of a candidate this year had he enrolled in January.
Improving defense brings a bowl berth
The one constant over Tucker’s three seasons has been the Spartans’ defensive struggles.
Tucker went out and brought in more beef up front, particularly transfers Jalen Sami at defensive tackle and Tunmise Adeleye at defensive end. MSU also brought in a highly touted class of four-star pass rushers in Bai Jobe, Andrew Depaepe and Jalen Thompson, plus 2022 late-add Ken Tally. He also landed three veteran defensive backs, in Semar Melvin, Terry Roberts and Armorion Smith, to blend with his young stable of corners and safeties.
The additions and strong returning group up front will help MSU improve enough by the end of the season to be the driving reason the Spartans return to a bowl.