Twice the MAC, twice the fun for Michigan State football?
For the second straight week, the Spartans face a Mid-American Conference foe at Spartan Stadium, though this time, they're back to playing on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Big Ten Network) as Eastern Michigan comes to East Lansing.
The Eagles already have some experience with Spartans both new – as they lost by one possession to the Spartans of San Jose State last week in Ypsilanti – and old – as they feature former MSU quarterback Noah Kim, who has completed 63% of his passes this season for 453 yards, three touchdowns and an interception while going 1-1.
New MSU coach Pat Fitzgerald and old defensive coordinator Joe Rossi seemed to have
the Spartans defense in sync in a 30-20 win over Toledo last week; can they do it again against EMU? Five Free Press sports writers have some thoughts on that:
Carlos Monarrez
Michigan State had its hands full in the opener against a Toledo team that's among the best in the MAC. Eastern Michigan is a middle-of-the-pack MAC team, so the Spartans should win comfortably. But beware former Spartans quarterback Noah Kim, who might just have enough venom and vengeance in his blood to make up for the Eagles’ leaky defense. The pick: MSU 40, Eastern Michigan 17.
Rainer Sabin
The Spartans’ victory over Toledo in Week 1 wasn’t as close as the score indicated. If they finished more drives with touchdowns rather than field goals and limited a few big plays on defense, the winning margin would have been far greater than 10 points. MSU should be able to take the hard lessons they learned in that game and apply them Saturday. If they do, EMU will be in for a long day. The pick: MSU 35, Eastern Michigan 14.
Jeff Seidel
Welcome to college football, 2026. Here we have QB Noah Kim, who played for Michigan State from 2022-23, then left for Costal Carolina, and now gets a chance to return to Spartan Stadium with EMU. Meanwhile, he is about to face a team that looks vastly different. MSU has a new coach and tons of new players, which is why the Spartans had plenty of mistakes to fix from a 30-20 victory over Toledo. That’s football in 2026 – a constant roster churn. I have no doubt MSU wins this game but there is really only one important question: How much do the Spartans improve in Week 2? It will be significant. The pick: MSU 37, Eastern Michigan 17.
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Chris Solari
QB Alessio Milivojevic continues to get plenty of time in the pocket, and a week of honing the details allows him to dissect the Eagles for a 300-plus-yard day in which Chrishon McCray and Rodney Bullard Jr. stretch the field vertically. Meanwhile, MSU’s revamped defensive line cranks it up and gets to Noah Kim more frequently and forces more than the one turnover it did in the opener. The pick: MSU 34, Eastern Michigan 10.
Shawn Windsor
Noah Kim makes his return to Spartan Stadium with the Eagles and will be motivated. But the former Spartan quarterback won't have enough around him to compete with EMU into the fourth quarter. The Spartans offensive line and run game look improved and they will ride that to a win. The pick: MSU 32, Eastern Michigan 19.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football picks vs Eastern Michigan: Spartans go for 2?
