Year one of the Jonathan Smith era is about to begin and Michigan State football fans are already setting expectations.
After listening to Smith, Nate Carter, Jack Velling, and Dillon Tatum speak at Big Ten Media Days, it’s fair to want to raise expectations a bit. The Spartans were well-represented and all in attendance seemed to say the right things. Velling spoke highly of Aidan Chiles and his leadership abilities, Carter said that the team was hungry to prove people wrong, and Tatum admitted that it’s his job to make sure Michigan State gets back to being great again.
All the right things were said by Smith and his guys.
But does that realistically change the expectations we’ve previously set for the team? Maybe, maybe not, but it does bring the excitement level for the 2024 season up a few notches.
Many have said that they’d be happy with 6-6 or even 5-7 just to show improvement from the nightmare that was 2023, but what are the realistic expectations for this year’s team?
Given the fact that Chiles is now leading a competent offense (thanks, Brian Lindgren), the offensive line should be vastly improved, Carter should be a plus running back, and the defense cannot get any worse after switching from Scottie Hazelton to Joe Rossi, I’d say that they’ve risen at least a little bit over the past few months.
Looking at the schedule, the realistic wins are Florida Atlantic, Prairie View A&M, Boston College, Indiana, Purdue, and Rutgers. Those all should be wins. The other games that could very well turn into wins but are more “lean losses” right now are Maryland, Iowa, and Illinois. Take one of those games and win all the should games and you have a successful season. The games that I see as “sure losses” are Ohio State, Oregon, and Michigan.
So if Michigan State has a semi-successful season, it would be going 6-6 or 7-5. There’s a legit shot to go 8-4 if it can steal a couple of wins from the likes of Maryland, Iowa, or Illinois, but it could also fare even worse if it loses to Boston College, Indiana, Purdue, or Rutgers.
Realistically, I see this as a 6-6 team with an opportunity to finish above .500 for the first time since 2021 in a bowl game.
Not a horrible start to the Smith era, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
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Publish date : 2024-07-27 11:00:02
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