With college football season starting to creep up, we’re running down Indiana’s schedule to preview all 12 opponents for 2025.
Indiana will go nearly a full month between home games this fall, with two road games sandwiching a bye week. The Hoosiers return to Bloomington for their homecoming game in mid-October against Michigan State, with the Old Brass Spittoon up for grabs. The Spartans made IU sweat a little last season, giving Curt Cignetti his first deficit of the season in the first quarter, before the Hoosiers dominated the rest of the game. MSU has a lot of returning production back this year, and Jonathan Smith will hope that bodes well for his squad.
- Opponent: Michigan State
- Date/Time/TV: Saturday, October 18, time TBD
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Ind.
- 2024 record/postseason result: 5-7, 3-6 Big Ten
Returning production, offense: 71 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (16th in the country)
Offensive outlook: Michigan State’s offense was rough last season, ranking 110th in the country and 13th in the Big Ten in total offense. MSU was more aggressive in the transfer portal on offense than defense, despite the high amount of returning production.
Much of that 71 percent comes from having junior Aidan Chiles back at quarterback. Chiles was pretty volatile last season, ultimately ranking 12th in the conference with 201.3 passing yards per game, and his 11 interceptions tied for the most in the conference. He provided a rushing threat, with 225 yards on 97 attempts with three touchdowns. The Spartans will need Chiles to play better this year.
MSU lost its two leading rushers from last season, and brought in redshirt senior Elijah Tau-Tolliver from Sacramento State in the transfer portal to step in. Tau-Tolliver posted 950 rushing yards on 184 carries in 2024 with seven touchdowns.
Leading receiver Nick Marsh returns after finishing last season with 649 yards on 41 receptions with three touchdowns. Third-leading receiver Jack Velling (36 receptions, 411 yards, one touchdown) is also back at tight end for MSU. The Spartans will have a few transfers playing key roles at wideout as well. Middle Tennessee transfer Omari Kelly earned All-C-USA first team honors last season, and Kent State transfer Crishon McCray was a second-team All-MAC selection.
Michigan State has one returning starter on the offensive line, and Smith brought in four transfers in the room who could be big pieces this year.
Returning production, defense: 62 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (35th in the country)
Defensive outlook: MSU’s defense, on the other hand, was very good last season. The Spartans ranked 34th in the nation and 10th in the Big Ten in total defense. They struggled to create takeaways, finishing with just nine, but that can be very luck-based and easy to turn around this season.
Just four defensive starters return for Michigan State, but the team has solid production back from non-starters as well.
MSU’s safety tandem of NIkai Martinez and Malik Spencer returns; they finished third and sixth, respectively, on the team in tackles last year. Linebackers Wayne Matthews III and Darius Snow rarely started last season, but they both still ranked among the team’s top-10 tacklers.
Florida State transfer Grady Kelly could be a player to watch on the defensive line, along with Air Force transfer David Santiago.
Special teams outlook: MSU will have a new kicker this season, in redshirt sophomore Tarik Ahmetbasic. Redshirt junior punter Ryan Eckley returns after earning All-Big Ten second team honors last year. The Spartans produced very little in the return game last year, and should have new faces handling those responsibilities this season.
Overall Outlook: Smith wasn’t able to flip Michigan State around as fast as Cignetti did at IU, and MSU enters year two of a rebuild. The Spartans had some positives from last season, but need to improve — particularly offensively — to be seriously competitive this year. This is most likely a bottom-half team in the Big Ten, but that could still translate to a bowl appearance if things break right.
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