Michigan State Football opens 2025 season with 23-6 victory over Western Michigan

Michigan State opened its 2025 season with a victory and made it look relatively easy, at least in the first half, as the Spartans dispatched Western Michigan 23-6.

The Spartans open 2025 1-0 following the 11th Friday night season opener of the past 15 seasons. MSU is also a perfect 11-0 in Friday night openers, notching its 16th win all-time over WMU in front of 71,657 fans. MSU is now 15-2 in East Lansing and 16-2 overall against the Broncos with 14-straight victories in the series.

In front of a relatively full Spartan Stadium crowd, Aidan Chiles led MSU’s offense with 17-for-23 passing for 155 yards and one touchdown. Overall, MSU totaled 336 yards that included 181 rushing yards on 44 attempts. Makhi Frazier led the ground attack with 103 yards on 14 attempts, including a long of 28, along with one touchdown. Brandon Tullis added 52 yards on seven carries and also logged a touchdown.

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In the wide receiver group, Omari Kelly proved the favorite target for Chiles as he hauled in seven catches on 10 targets for 75 yards. Nick Marsh added 32 yards on five catches, grabbing all five targets for the sophomore, plus a touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball, MSU held the Broncos to just 217 yards, including just 29 rushing yards on 24 attempts. Brady Jones carried the bulk of the quarterback duties with 23 attempts and 11 catches for 97 yards while Broc Lowry added 91 yards through five catches by the receivers on 10 attempts.

Jordan Hall led Michigan State with eight total tackles, including three solo, one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, and one quarterback hurry. Malik Spencer added a sack as well with the third most tackles on the night for five, including the high for the team in solos with four. Ade Willie was second on the team in tackles for loss with two out of his three total tackles. Wayne Matthews also added an interception for the stat sheet by MSU’s defense which shut out Western’s offense for the night.

First Half

Michigan State started the season on defense and immediately gave fans pause as Western opened with a 35-yard pass to start the season. Two plays later and the Broncos converted for another fresh set of downs thanks to a 12-yard pass, but the drive stalled out at MSU’s 26 yard line and ended with a turnover on downs after WMU went for it on fourth-and-4 but threw incomplete.

MSU responded with a 10-play, 74-yard drive, capping it off with its first touchdown of the season. The Spartans looked to establish the ground game early in this one, rushing on six of the plays that included the drive’s long of 28 yards by Frazier. Tullis capped it off with a 12-yard run into the end zone for the score. The PAT was good and Michigan State took a 7-0 lead with just 5:30 left in the opening stanza.

The defense forced WMU to punt it away after giving up just one first down, giving fans watching a bit of relief the initial season-opening jitters seemed to be calming down. Also welcome to see was a sack on third-and-9 by Anelu Lafaele (who also forced a fumble on the sack, but it was recovered by Jones) and that forced the punt by the Broncos.

The Spartans marched the ball down the field once again for a score, this time going 75-yards but again on 10 plays for the touchdown. Taking almost six minutes, the drive rolled over into the second quarter and featured a bit more airing it out by Chiles. While Marsh and Kelly both drew pass interference penalties to help advance the drive, Chiles also connected on three passes each for double digit yards, including a long of 14. Chiles connected with Marsh for seven yards and the score to cap off the drive. After the PAT, it was 14-0 Michigan State.

Both teams were forced to punt it away on their respective offensive drives following Michigan State’s second touchdown. The first for Ryan Eckley on the season ended with Alante Brown downing it at the one-yard line.

That set up a near safety for the MSU defense on second-and-9, but after a review by the officials it was ruled an incomplete pass by Jones though the Broncos’ quarterback had an odd falling backwards while chucking it over the head motion on the pass which certainly left a few fans scratching their heads at what one might call that between a fumble and an incomplete pass. WMU was forced to punt it away two plays later and MSU took over on its own 46-yard line.

The Spartans marched it 54 yards on six plays for the final touchdown of the game for Michigan State that included a 26-yard scramble by Chiles (though the official video tweet of the player differs on the yardage gain from that of the game notes). After the PAT, it was 21-0 for MSU.

MSU forced another punt on Western’s next drive, returning it 20 yards to Michigan State’s 42 yard line. The Spartans couldn’t capitalize on the momentum as Chiles was sacked for the first time on the year for a huge 17-yard loss, eventually having MSU punt it away on fourth-and-20. The Broncos time on the field was short lived as Wayne Matthews picked off Jones on second down at WMU’s 28 yard line.

The Spartans tried to improve the field position with a single play, but ended up with no gain on a short pass to Kelly and called out the field goal unit. Short on kickers due to injuries, punter Ryan Eckley lined up for a 46 yard field goal attempt and missed, kicking it very wide left to end the half.

Second Half

The second half was less than ideal for Michigan State as the Spartans’ offense proceeded to go scoreless while punting it away on four straight drives before then ending with a fumble recovered by Western and then a pick six. Time expired on the final drive as MSU kneeled it out for the final 1:55 of play.

While the offense left much to be desired in the half, punting was on point with Eckley setting his teammates up to down it once again at the WMU one-yard line.

The Broncos wouldn’t be able to escape the Spartans’ defense on this drive, immediately giving up a safety as Jalen Buckley was tackled for a loss inside the end zone for the safety. The MSU defense would end up scoring the final points of the night for the Spartans as MSU took a 23-0 lead.

Neither team could find much success to close the third quarter, but Michigan State’s first full drive of the fourth quarter would prove a pivotal one for the wrong reasons. The Spartans advance 63 yards to Western’s 27-yard line, but on what proved the final play of the drive, Chiles was sacked for a 10-yard loss and also appeared to be shaken up or possibly hurt. On the sack, he also lost the ball as James Camden forced the fumble by MSU’s QB and Rodney McGraw recovered it for the Broncos.

While the defense for the Spartans quickly forced a punt after just five plays, the Spartans decided to send in freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic to give the young QB some reps after the last series ended with the sack on Chiles. The Spartans kept it on the ground for the first two plays but opted to let Milivojevic try his first pass attempt on third-and-4. Unfortunately, the young QB was picked off by former Spartan Tate Hallock who returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. The Broncos opted to try for two, but failed and just like that WMU was on the board trailing 23-6.

Western opted for an onside kick attempt and managed to recover it, taking over on its own 48-yard line. Michigan State retaliated with a sack right out of the gate for a seven-yard loss, eventually forcing the Broncos to punt it away with just 1:55 left on the clock after they were unable to convert for a fresh set of downs. The Spartans would kneel it out for the win from there and open the season 1-0.

Michigan State will return to Spartan Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 6 when it hosts Boston College at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be broadcast on NBC.