Spartans' Receivers Activated Against Prairie View A&M
As the Prairie View A&M Panthers entered Spartan Stadium to take on the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday, no preparation could have had them ready for all the Spartan weapons on the outside.
Quarterbacks Aidan Chiles and Tommy Schuster used a wide variety of their offensive playmakers to defeat the Panthers 40 - 0 and head into Week 3 with an undefeated record.
Aziah Johnson led the way for all receivers and was highlighted by his play in the first quarter. With 15 seconds left in the opening quarter, the Spartans had the ball in the red zone, and on third-and-6 from the 17-yard line, Johnson lined up in the slot position and ran a slant route. After creating space and getting his defender out of position he caught the ball and broke three tackles on the way to get to the end zone.
To add on to Johnson’s day, he also had a nice catch on the run for over 30 yards to help the Spartans score a field goal on an early drive in the second half.
Johnson led the way for the group with the touchdown and the most receiving yards on the team, but nine other guys produced as well. Antonio Gates Jr. caught three passes for 42 yards, Jack Velling matched the 42 yards on just two receptions, Motorie Foster Jr. had the most receptions on the team with four going for 37 yards, Kay’ron Lynch-Adams and Nick Marsh both matched stats with two receptions and 27 yards and Zach Gillespie finished with two receptions for 16 yards,
Jay Coyne and Brennan Parachek secured a reception to go along with 12 yards a piece. Filling up the final spot on the day was Michael Masunas, with 5 yards on one reception.
Having all of these weapons and using them in a game situation was the perfect situation. As a group, these players got first-hand experience of in-game reps that could play a factor later on in the season.
It gave the Spartans coaches another element to scout when deciding what players to play in certain situations and potentially the most impactful being letting the rest of the Spartans opponents know the Green and White have a wide spread of options to go through in the air, which will happen at big moments and possession-dependant plays.
Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith liked what he saw.
“I thought offensively, there’s a lot to like, especially on third down," Smith said. "I thought in the first half, third-down conversions, these things aren't just third and ones; we coverted multiple times to come up with points.”
The Spartans have confidence heading into Week 3, and the offense not only showed promise, but depth in their 40 - 0 victory over the Panthers.
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JACK BEULKE