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Michigan State Spartans Football Preview 2025: Prediction, Win Total, Top 10 Players, Keys to the Season
© Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

2025 Michigan State Preview
Michigan State Offense Breakdown
Michigan State Defense Breakdown 

Michigan State Spartans Key to the Season

Be a whole lot tighter.
The Spartans have talent, and they should be good, but they can’t keep screwing up.

The special teams gave up too many blocked kicks, neither side did anything on third or fourth downs, and there weren’t enough takeaways. Penalties, turnovers, pass protection, red zone efficiency - everything has to be cleaned up.

Michigan State Spartans Key Player

Aidan Chiles, QB Jr.
Pick any pass rusher, or either offensive tackle, or one of the transfer wide receivers, and you probably have the key player. But Michigan State will go as far as Chiles improves.

The talent is there to be special, and at some point it’ll all click. But he has to be far, far more accurate on a consistent basis, he has to move the chains, and he can’t keep putting the ball into harm’s way like he does.

Michigan State Spartans Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Joshua Eaton, CB Sr.
After three years of not doing much at Oklahoma, he transferred to Texas State and became one of the Sun Belt’s best corners. He still has yet to pick off a pass in his five seasons of play, but there’s NFL upside with his combination of tools. He’s needed because of the loss of …

Top Transfer Out: Charles Brantley, CB Sr.
One of the stars of last season, Brantley picked off three passes, took one for a score, and broke up seven. He’s ultra-quick, has four years of experience, and now he’s taking his talents to South Beach to be a key corner for Miami.

Michigan State Spartans Key Game

at USC, Sept. 20
The last meeting with the Trojans was in the 1990 Sun Bowl - Michigan State won 17-16 to tie the series at 4-4.

If there’s any hope for this to be a bowl season, the Spartans must beat Boston College on the way to a 3-0 start. After starting the Big Ten at USC, there’s a week off before going to Nebraska, and a trip to Indiana soon follows to make it three road games in four conference dates - and that’s before the hard part of the slate kicks in.
- 2025 Michigan State Schedule Breakdown

Michigan State Spartans Top 10 Players

1. Nikai Martinez, S Sr.
2. Aidan Chiles, QB Sr.
3. Malik Spencer, S Sr.
4. Nick Marsh, WR Soph.
5. Elijah Tau-Tolliver, RB Sr.
6. Jack Veiling, TE Sr.
7. Jordan Hall, LB Jr.
8. Joshua Eaton, CB Sr.
9. Conner Moore, OT Jr.
10. Ryan Eckley, P Jr.

Michigan State Spartans 2024 Fun Stats

- Fumbles: Michigan State 11 (lost 7), Opponents 8 (lost 2)

- 3rd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 88, Michigan State 23

- Penalties: Michigan State 80 for 760 yards, Opponents 50 for 407 yards

Michigan State Spartans 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen

As hammered home throughout this, Michigan State had a whole slew of problems. It struggled in too many easy areas, it couldn’t score, couldn’t hold up in key situations, made too many errors, and …

It went 5-7 and should’ve beaten Boston College.

But as close as it was to getting bowl eligible, it played like hot garbage in a tough win over a horrible Florida Atlantic team, got out alive against a bad Maryland squad, and caught the massive break of enjoying the speedbump that was Purdue - and that was way closer than it should’ve been.

This year, there’s no Ohio State or Oregon on the slate, and missing Illinois, Rutgers, Washington, and Wisconsin isn’t a bad deal, either. On the down side, Northwestern and Purdue are also missing.

The two toughest games - Michigan and Penn State - are in East Lansing, and there are just enough winnable games to win four games just by showing up.

There are still too many issues that need fixing to win all the games it should, so there will be a whiff or two - like a home game against UCLA or Maryland - when Aidan Chiles makes too many mistakes.

But there will also be that game or two when Chiles goes off.

It’ll be another ragged season, but it’ll be better, and it’ll end with a bowl appearance.

Set The Michigan State Spartans Win Total At … 6

Likely Wins: Western Michigan, Youngstown State

50/50 Games: Boston College, at Indiana, at Iowa, Maryland, at Minnesota, at Nebraska, UCLA

Likely Losses: Michigan, Penn State, at USC

2025 Michigan State Preview
Michigan State Offense Breakdown
Michigan State Defense Breakdown 

This article first appeared on College Football News and was syndicated with permission.

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