Former Michigan State Quarterback Excels in First Start at New School
Michigan State lost numerous players to the transfer portal during the offseason.
While Coach Jonathan Smith was able to bounce back by securing a respectable transfer portal class, Michigan State undoubtedly lost a large amount of talent at key positions. The Spartans lost expected starters and players with the potential to be starters in East Lansing or elsewhere in a mass exodus that initially set Smith and his coaching staff back.
One of those players is quarterback Sam Leavitt, who played for the Spartans for one season before transferring to Arizona State in the offseason. In high school, Leavitt was a four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. On3 Sports ranked Leavitt as the best overall player in the state of Oregon in the 2023 recruiting class, and numerous other outlets ranked him as one of the best quarterbacks in the country in the class.
He played sparingly at Michigan State, appearing in four games for the Spartans. In that time, he completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 139 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also ran for nearly 70 yards in his four games at Michigan State.
After getting hardly any playing time with the Spartans in his lone season in East Lansing, Leavitt was unlikely to get much more playing time as quarterback Aidan Chiles transferred from Oregon State to Michigan State with Smith, and all was firmly in place as the team’s starting quarterback. He transferred to Arizona State, looking for a better opportunity, and it seems he found it.
In his first start with the Sun Devils, Leavitt completed 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 258 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions against Wyoming. In his first start with the Spartans, Chiles completed 10 of his 24 passes for 114 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions against Florida Atlantic.
Michigan State moves forward with Chiles at quarterback, hoping the young signal caller improves before the Spartans open Big Ten play on the road against Maryland. Michigan State enters its next game as underdogs in what will be Coach Smith’s first game in the Big Ten. He hopes the Spartans make significant progress before the end of the week.
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EZEKIEL TREZEVANT
Ezekiel is a former Sports Editor from the Western Herald and former Atlanta Falcons beat writer.