3 Reasons To Believe In Noah Kim
The moment Michigan State fans had been waiting for arrived last Friday night. Spartan football is back, and the big offseason questions were answered.
The biggest question of all was who would be the starting quarterback. Redshirt junior Noah Kim has won the job and, after a shaky start, he progressed as the game went on. Kim looked comfortable on his way to throwing for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
Here are three observations of what Michigan State’s starter did well against Central Michigan:
1.) Kim wasn’t discouraged by slow first half
Kim isn’t a young quarterback, but he is an inexperienced one. Many players getting their first start would get discouraged after a slow first half but Kim didn’t. Michigan State’s offense became more confident moving the ball in the second half, and that was a reflection of the quarterback play.
Plays missed in the first quarter started working at the end of the half and into the third quarter. Some players who usually don’t drop passes did, which changed in the second half. Kim was able to find open targets and hit them for big plays.
With the understanding this was the first game of the season, the Spartans should be eager to get off to a better start against Richmond. Michigan State can’t afford to start slow against a big opponent like Washington and heading into conference play, so Week 2 is a chance to iron out the early mistakes we saw against CMU.
2.) Kim took what the defense gave him
Head coach Mel Tucker talked about what he wants out of his quarterback play all offseason. One of the biggest attributes he looks for is his QB not trying to do too much. You could tell Kim had a clear understanding of that on Friday, and he took what the defense gave him. The junior found the open man and allowed his receivers to get extra yards after the catch to turn simple completions into big plays.
Credit to Kim, but also credit to the wide receivers. Outside of Tre Mosley, the rest of MSU’s receivers are still in an open audition for starting roles. That includes three sophomores (Tyrell Henry, Jaron Glover, Antonio Gates Jr.) and two upperclassmen (Montorie Foster, Christian Pitzpatrick). It wouldn’t be surprising if the Spartans had four different players lead the team in receiving in the first four games. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson wants to utilize tight ends more, and we saw four tight ends play on Friday as well.
3.) Kim distributed the ball amongst all units
Similar to the last point, Kim was able to spread the wealth, with receivers catching 11 passes, running backs catching five and tight ends catching two. The leading receiver of the game was Jaron Glover with 3 catches for 75 yards, all coming on the same drive at the end of the second quarter.
Nine different players caught a pass against Central Michigan, with ten players targeted. Running back Jalen Berger had four catches, which is noteworthy. Using a running back in the passing game is something that Michigan State can improve on, and Week 1 showed they worked on it in the offseason.
The Spartans averaged 15.5 yards per catch, and 9.0 yards per pass attempt. Despite those solid numbers, Kim and the receivers said they left some plays on the field and there’s room for improvement moving forward.
Kim seems aware of the strengths and weaknesses of this offense. It could be part of the reason he won the job. His performance showed why he competed for the job last season against Payton Thorne. With Richmond on deck, Kim will be expected to be even better than he was against Central. That would give the team and fans confidence heading into the Washington game and Big Ten play.
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