The roster, which includes just under 100 total players, returns 49 letterwinners and 19 position starters from the 2018 campaign, according to the Spring Preview on MSUSpartans.com

In addition to the returning players, the Spartans also have seven early-enrollees from the 2018 recruiting class: Javez Alexander (WR), Theo Day (QB), Dimitri Douglas (OL), Kalon Gervin (CB), Xavier Henderson (DB), Julian Major (WR) and Edward Warinner (LB).

Douglas will sit out spring ball with an Achilles injury, however. As will redshirt freshman Weston Bridges with an “undisclosed” injury.

There were some notable absentees on the roster, starting with Jalen Watts-Jackson. He was the hero of the 2015 game against Michigan, but has dealt with injuries since, and didn’t see the field much in 2017 (appearing in just six games).

Defensive back T.J. Harrell and defensive tackle Kyonta Stallworth were also not listed on the roster. It is possible that these players could be on the summer roster, however.

Overall, the Spartans will be returning 10 starters on offense, nine starters on defense and three specialists (placekicker, punter and long snapper).

MSU has the most returning production returning in the country, as it returns 100 percent of its passing yards from the quarterback position, 82 percent of its receptions, 81 percent of its receiving yards, and 71 percent of its rushing yards on offense, according to MSUSpartans.com.

Defensively, the Spartans return 23 letterwinners. Of the nine returning starters, five of which started all 13 games last season — Khari Willis, Raquan Williams, Mike Panisiuk, Andrew Dowell and Joe Bachie. The unit ranked top-7 in the country in both rushing yards allowed (No. 2) and total defense (No. 7).

The Green-White Spring game takes place at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, April 7 at 5 p.m.

Check out the full spring practice schedule below:

No. 1 – Tuesday, Feb. 27
No. 2 – Thursday, March 1
No. 3 – Tuesday, March 13
No. 4 – Thursday, March 15
No. 5 – Friday/Saturday, March 16/17
No. 6 – Tuesday, March 20
No. 7 – Thursday, March 22
No. 8 – Friday/Saturday, March 23/24
No. 9 – Tuesday, March 27
No. 10 – Thursday, March 29
No. 11 – Tuesday, April 3
No. 12 – Thursday, April 5
No. 13 – Friday, April 6
No. 14 – Spring Game, Saturday, April 7, 5 p.m.
No. 15 – Tuesday, April 10

And in a lot of ways, despite the huge Vegas line favoring the Buckeyes, the Spartans are well-built to get the upset.

So how good are the Spartans? The rank just ahead of Ohio State in the College Football Playoff rankings, but still significantly behind in the S&P+. From Bill’s post on the Big Ten race:

MSU is good, but did need some turnovers luck to get by Michigan and Penn State. Based on national averages for fumble recovery rates and the ratio of interceptions to passes broken up, the Spartans’ expected turnover margin in those two huge wins was plus-zero. In real life, it was plus-seven. The average turnover is worth about five points’ worth of field position lost (by the offense) and gained (by the defense), so this discrepancy was worth around 35 points to the Spartans, who won these games by a combined seven.

So turnovers have played a significant role in the Spartans wins — but that shouldn’t be too comforting for Ohio State fans given their specific strengths and weaknesses.

Vegas favors Ohio State by a 15.5 point margin, which seems absurd on the face of it. But the raw statistics really love Ohio State because the Buckeyes’ best is the best in the country. The problem is that their floor, which we (hopefully) saw last Saturday in Kinnick Stadium, is just top-30, not top-4.

A few other notes:

• Ohio State’s average turnover margin per game has been steadily declining. Ohio State ranks 61st at just +.11/game on the year after ranking 3rd at +1.15/game last year.
• Kickoffs could be an issue, again. Michigan State ranks fifth in the country in kickoff return success rate
• Sometimes the more turnover, the better the end result. Michigan State had an insanely low percentage of returning production (116th and 107th), but appears to be better off for it.

When Ohio State has the ball

Before getting in to the specific matchup, it’s worth noting that Ohio State’s offense was not the problem in the loss to Iowa, but there were certainly some important issues that Iowa’s top-20 defense revealed: responding to defenses that take away intermediate throws, force Barrett to keep in the zone-read run game, and what happens with penalties or after offensive line injuries.

Michigan State’s defense is much-improved from last year, when they ranked 41st in the defensive S&P+ -- they’re up to 9th now, and particularly excel in stopping the run. Where Iowa was ranked poorly in run defense heading in to last week’s game, and stronger against the pass, the Spartans’ strengths are flipped, ranking 6th in rushing S&P+, but 38th in passing S&P+. Like Iowa, they prevent big plays (7th in overall IsoPPP+) but they’re much worse at finishing drives, allowing an average of 4.22 points per opponent scoring opportunity (51st).

Interestingly, while they are one of the best defenses in the country at preventing runs of 5+ yards (6th, or 31.1% of runs), their run defense isn’t built so much on making plays in the backfield, ranking just 43rd in stuff rate. In fact, the defense’s success as a whole isn’t built on making havoc plays, ranking 49th in overall havoc and 71st in defensive line havoc.

So that gives us two big questions:

1. Can Ohio State run on Michigan State? This is the best run defense the Buckeyes will have seen this season. They held Saquon Barkley to 14 carries for 63 yards last week. And if the Spartans win the battle up front, how will the offense respond if forced to rely on the pass? Meyer and Wilson also mentioned ways to increase the running back’s success rate on read-based runs. That suggests we might see more dart runs or RPO variations, as well as potentially some non-read running back runs as well.
2. Can Ohio State exploit the Spartans’ relative weakness against the pass? At 38th in passing S&P+, the Spartans are still a good pass defense, but they allow a relatively high percentage of successful shorter completions. They allowed 368 yards on 50 attempts (7.4 yards per attempt) to Northwestern, then 401 yards (8.4 yards per attempt) last week to Trace McSorley. Opposing offenses have keyed on the Spartans’ pass defense, throwing on 49.9% of standard downs -- which is the 5th-most in the country. All week we’ve talked about J.K. Dobbins getting the ball more — and Urban mentioned that it would be a point of emphasis this week after practice. But we should be prepared for a pass-heavy attack nevertheless, because that’s what is likely to be effective against the Michigan State defense.

When Michigan State has the ball

The Spartans don’t have the most elite offense the Buckeyes’ have seen this year, but they do have one well-positioned to take advantage of Ohio State’s weaknesses — similar to Iowa. The similarities are clear: the Spartans offense ranks 101st in rushing S&P+, but third in the country in passing S&P+ behind Brian Lewerke.

Lewerke’s stats don’t jump off the page immediately: 2,207 passing yards, 6.5 yards per attempt, five interceptions. But his passing success rate is 44.9%, which is 26th in the country, and they’ve faced a number of solid defenses. In the past two games against Northwestern and Penn State, Lewerke has thrown for 845 yards and over 7 yards per attempt. He’s had over 53 attempts three times this year.

Part of the reason for going so pass-heavy has to do with the poor run game. Not only are they 101st in rushing S&P+ overall, but they allow run stuffs on over a quarter of runs, ranking fourth-to-last in the country in stuff rate. Ohio State’s defense ranks 7th in the country in forcing run stuff. So you’d expect the Spartans offense to be completely one dimensional — but that’s also what should have happened last week, as well. But Ohio State’s defense, and linebackers specifically, failed to fill gaps behind the defensive line’s slants, and seemed unsure who had pursuit and coverage responsibilities. Michigan State undoubtedly seeks to take advantage of Ohio State’s defense in a similar way. If the defense allows the Spartans to have a steady run game in addition to a likely-efficient passing day, then it’s likely to be another long afternoon for Greg Schiano’s defense.

Given how much the numbers favor Ohio State’s run defense and don’t favor its pass defense, any schematic or execution issues for the run defense will likely be devastating.

Spartans tight end Matt Sokol is the fourth-most targeted player in the passing game, but he still only has 16 catches and 166 total receiving yards this year, while LJ Scott has 15 catches for 91 yards. Michigan State will likely try to use motions and shifts to create advantageous matchups with tight ends and running backs on Ohio State’s linebackers, as the linebacker corps hasn’t shown much improvement in pass coverage responsibilities since getting exposed against Oklahoma.

Assuming that Ohio State’s run defense corrects the most glaring issues from a week ago and realizes their statistical advantage in run defense, then even a steadily efficient passing game should be slowed in the red zone, where the Spartans average just 3.94 points per scoring opportunity, which is 105th in the country. Field goals should be the name of the game. Expect to see a fair number of third-down conversions, as they rank 3rd in passing downs S&P+ despite being fifth-worst overall in passing downs line yards per carry (which means that nearly all of that late-down success is due Lewerke and not the running backs).

Takeaways

1. The Spartans defense excels against the run, ranking 6th in rushing S&P+. They don’t make a ton of tackles for loss, but they also limit big gains.
2. Their relative defensive weakness is against the pass, ranking 38th, and 48th in passing success rate. The Spartans defense is very similar to Ohio State’s in that it intends to stop the run first, can allow efficient passers, but still rarely allows big pass plays.
3. Brian Lewerke is up there with Baker Mayfield and Trace McSorley in terms of passing threats. But while Lewerke may not be as dynamic as Mayfield or as deep ball-ready as McSorley, he has shown the ability to be efficient, potentially like Richard Lagow and Nate Stanley were. Lewerke leads the third-best passing offense overall and on passing downs.
4. Ohio State should have a huge advantage stopping the Spartans ground game (5th vs. 101st in rushing S&P+), but they should have been able to stop Iowa too, who has similar problems as the Spartans (127th in stuff rate). If this advantage isn’t realized, then the Buckeyes have big problems.
5. There are a number of less-quantifiable factors that could affect the game. Mark Dantonio has taken statistically inferior teams toe-to-tow with Meyer’s, forcing games decided by three points or less in four of the last six years. We’re also not sure where Ohio State’s mindset is now that their playoff hopes are almost assuredly gone.

Picks

• S&P+: Ohio State 33, Michigan State 19. 78.2% win probability
• F/+: Ohio State by 7.9. 67.6% win probability
• Adj. S&P+: Ohio State by 30.3 (!). 96% win probability
• My pick: Ohio State 31, Michigan State 28

Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Enrollment: 50,543 (39,143 undergraduates)
Home Stadium: Spartan Stadium
Head Coach: Mark Dantonio, 11th season, 92-42 (.687)
Conference: Big Ten (East Division)

Series History

First Game: November 13, 1914 (Michigan State won, 6-3)
Last Game: November 26, 2016 (Penn State won, 45-12)
Overall: Tied at 15 wins each and one tie
Current Win Streak: Penn State, 1

Last Season (3-9 overall, 1-8 Big Ten Conference)

It was a brutal year for the Spartans in 2016, going 3-9 in the regular season (1-8 Big Ten), with their first losing season under Dantonio and a year where Michigan State was not bowl eligible. The Spartans started the year off strong, ranked No. 12, defeating Furman and No. 18 Notre Dame. Then Michigan State dropped their next seven games in a row to No. 11 Wisconsin, Indiana, BYU, Northwestern, Maryland, No. 2 Michigan and Illinois. Ouch. The Spartans defeated Rutgers 49-0, their most decisive win of the season, only to lose to then No. 2 Ohio State and No. 8 Penn State in the following two games.

Last Week

The 6-2 (4-1 Big Ten) Spartans are having a much better year but unfortunately, this Saturday they snapped a four-game winning streak, losing in a three-overtime heartbreaker to the Northwestern Wildcats, 39-31.

Michigan State scored first in the first with a touchdown pass from quarterback Brian Lewerke to Cody White, then hit a field goal in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead. Northwestern responded by scoring 10 unanswered points in the second quarter to tie the game 10-10 at the half. In the fourth quarter, both teams scored touchdowns, leading to the 17-17 tie going into the first overtime, then made it 24-24 going into the second overtime, then 31-31 going into the third overtime.

In the final overtime, Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Flynn Nagel. But on the next Spartan possession, Wildcat Nate Hall intercepted Lewerke in the end zone sealing the Northwestern win.

Lewerke threw for a school record 445 yards and four touchdowns and Cody White had 165 yards receiving (the most by a Spartan freshman in a single game in school history) and two touchdowns. Michigan State’s defense held Northwestern to just 64 yards rushing. Joe Bachie led the Spartans in tackles for the sixth time this season with eight stops.

Recruiting and Offseason

The Michigan State 2017 class is ranked as the nation’s 36th recruiting class (sixth in the Big Ten), as compared to Penn State’s 2017 class ranked at 16th in the nation and third in the Big10.

This year, the Spartans lost graduating quarterback Tyler O’Connor and saw defensive lineman Malik McDowell and safety Montae Nicholson drafted in the 2017 NFL draft. Wide receiver R.J. Shelton later signed with the Vikings and safety Demetrious Cox signed with the Panthers.

In April, Michigan State dismissed a total of four players due to sexual assault investigations. Wide receiver Donnie Corley, defensive end Josh King, and wide receiver Demetric Vance were charged with criminal sexual conduct, and in a separate incident, defensive end Auston Robertson, was charged with sexual misconduct. Linebacker Jon Reschke also left the program, deciding to transfer.

Offense

Michigan State’s offense struggled last year, continues to struggle this year but has seen a few improvements, statistically speaking . They are 71^st in total offense in 2017 (75^th last year), 64th in rush offense (65^th last year), 67^th in passing offense (74th last year).

However, they’ve gone from 3-9 to being 6-2 overall, and have seen quarterback Brian Lewerke steadily improve.

As a freshman in four games in 2016, Lewerke was 31 of 57 (54.5%). In 2017, Lewerke is 159 for 259 (61.4%) for 1,807 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. Lewerke ranks third in the Big Ten in points responsible for per game (behind Trace McSorley). He set several school records against Northwestern last week, including a school record 445 yards and four touchdowns. Lewerke also has 75 rush attempts for 343 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.

The Spartan offensive line is young, made up of sophomores, with the exception of center and captain, senior Brian Allen and junior right guard David Beedle (uncertain for this week with an injury). The unit allowed 27 sacks, averaging 2.3 sacks per game last year, tied for the fifth-highest rate per game in the Big Ten. This year they’ve improved that stat, allowing 10 sacks (1.25 per game) of quarterback Lewerke.

Michigan State has a number of talented running backs, with LJ Scott leading the Spartans with 113 attempts for 511 yards and four touchdowns (and 11 receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown). Gerald Holmes and Madre London also split time rushing, but Holmes may not see play this week after an ankle injury earlier in the season.

Top targets in the air include wide receiver Felton Davis who is second in the team in scoring with 42 points – and the top receiver with 33 receptions for 405 yards and seven touchdowns. Darrell Stewart has 35 receptions for 362 yards and one touchdown. Cody White and Hunter Rison also see time at receiver.

Defense

Michigan State’s defense had a rough 2016. First, the losing season, then losing key defensive players including linebacker Jon Reschke, who transferred, and defensive ends Auston Robertson and Josh King, dismissed for sexual assault cases. Even so, they’ve improved their defense over last year, and fast.

Last year, the Spartans were 32^nd in total defense, 51^st in rush defense, 14^th in first down defense, and 84^th in pass efficiency defense. This year, improvements include 8^th in total defense (3rd in Big Ten), 4^th in rush defense with 89.8 yards allowed (top in the Big Ten), 14^th in first down defense, and 17^th in team passing efficiency defense.

Senior defensive end Demetrious Cooper returns as the veteran along with (all sophomores) defensive end Kenny Willekes, defensive tackle Mike Panasiuk and nose tackle Raequan Williams. Willekes has 43 tackles total for the year (fourth for the Spartans) along with three sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery.

Michigan State boasts some talented linebackers, especially in sophomore Joe Bachie, who leads the Spartans in defense with 71 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery and two fumbles forced. Bachie is fourth in the Big Ten averaging 8.9 tackles per game.

Other starting linebackers include junior Andrew Dowell and senior Chris Frey. Andrew Dowell has 29 tackles this year and two interceptions for 35 yards. Frey led the linebacker unit last year with 96 tackles and so far has 34 this year along with four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

The Spartans do have depth at safety with juniors Khari Willis and starter David Dowell (yep, that's Andrew Dowell's twin brother). Willis is third for Michigan State in tackles with 49 while David Dowell is second on the team with tackles with 55.

The cornerback position is young, with sophomore Justin Layne returning after starting five games in 2016, making him the veteran. Freshman Josiah Scott is also starting as cornerback with backups filling in - sophomore Josh Butler and junior Tyson Smith (who thankfully battled back from a stroke last season).

Special Teams

The Spartans’ redshirt freshman kicker Matt Coghlin, the leading scorer for the Spartans with 44 points, is 23 of 23 for extra points but he’s 7 of 11 (63.6%) for field goals this season. Punter Jake Hartbarger has 45 punts for 1,905 yards and an average punt of 42.3, and had a career-best 62-yard punt against Indiana, pinning them at their own 1-yard line.

Connor Heyward and Darrell Stewart have handled most kick return duties and have been the most successful, with Heyward catching six returns for 171 yards and Stewart with six returns for 152 yards.

Blog

Check out more on Michigan State Spartans football at their SB Nation blog, The Only Colors.

Although, he is doing so safely on the other side of the country.

Jon Wilner was the only voter in the AP Poll to include Michigan State in his top 25 rankings. Wilner is a writer for The San Jose Mercury News.

Michigan State wasn’t Wilner’s only bold prediction. The West Coast writer was one of nine voters not to have Alabama as their top team, Wilner put the Florida State Seminoles one spot ahead of the Alabama Crimson Tide. He also put the Texas Longhorns at No. 9.

When it comes to defending his MSU pick, it comes down to something pretty simple for Wilner – the Spartans head coach. From Wilner’s AP poll post on the Mercury News website:

No reason to expect the Spartans to execute complete turnaround from three-win season, except that Mark Dantonio is a helluva coach.

Wilner expanded on his thought process a little more with Matt Charboneau.

“It was basically a combination of three things,” Wilner wrote in an email to the Detroit News reporter. “Every year, some teams outperform expectations, and I try to factor that unpredictability into my ballot; it’s a matter of picking the right upside surprises. Second, I don’t think Dantonio has forgotten how to coach, and there should be no sense of satisfaction among the players. Lastly, the schedule: No Wisconsin, no Nebraska and Notre Dame at home. I think they can win seven or eight, which would make them a ranked team by the end of the season.”

Wilner’s wild predictions didn’t exactly line up with his fellow voters. Of the 62 voters, Wilner’s ballot was the second least like the actual poll. Charboneau, on the other hand, had the 19th most consistent poll.

In defense of Wilner, there is at least one other person in the college football world who thinks MSU should start the season ranked, but the other person is still unknown. Michigan State also received one vote for the top 25 in the coaches poll.

Gissinger stands at a towering 6-feet-4-inches tall, and weighs 235 pounds. He is the first recruit from the West to commit to the Spartans. The current class is made up of eight Ohio prospects, three Michigan prospects, one Georgia prospect, and now one California prospect.

Gissinger ranks as the No. 38 weak-side defensive end in the 247Sports Composite. He also ranks as the No. 77 player in California.

Scout sees him as a three-star athlete, who ranks 14th at the position in the entire West region. Meanwhile, Rivals lists him as a three-star strong-side defensive end.

Gissinger seems to bring versatility to the class. As a junior, he also played tight end and long snapper, according to his Hudl highlight video. Though, I would expect him to call the defensive line home in East Lansing, as the Spartans recruited him defensive end.

I actually expected Chase Kline to be the next Spartan, however, this makes me just as happy and is a welcomed addition!

Defensive line is one of Michigan State’s biggest question marks in 2017 and beyond, after attrition in the offseason depleted the position. This is a great commitment for the Spartans at a position of dire need.

Apparently, Gissinger took a visit to campus last week, and was blown away by the facilities and the program. Adding that he felt at home there.

Per Scout.com:

"I had a great visit there last week and everything just felt right," Gissinger said. "The facilities are unreal and they have a big time football program that is tough to beat. Coach (Mark) Dantonio is an amazing coach and a great guy.

"He made me feel at home on the visit and helped make my decision for me. I also love the Business School. Eli Broad donated a bunch of money to it so it's coming up. I don't know how to describe it but it just felt like the right choice for me and I'm very excited to be a Spartan."

Assuming Gissinger is set to play defensive end, he joins the Slade twins — Jacob and Zachary — as the third defensive lineman in the class. That would also make him the ninth player on the defensive side of the ball in the 2018 class.

Check out Gissinger’s highlights below:

Both teams looking to get their seasons back on track.

If the Michigan State Spartans are going to a bowl game this year, keeping alive a streak Mark Dantonio says is “absolutely” important, they’ll almost certainly need to win this Saturday over the Maryland Terrapins.

Vegas has set its numbers for the matchup, installing the Spartans as a 2.5-point road favorite even though Maryland has won four games to MSU’s two.

However, the Terps haven’t played well of late, with their last two contests ending in decided losses to Penn State and Minnesota. Three of Maryland’s four wins are out-of-conference victories over the underwhelming trio of Howard, FIU and UCF, and their lone conference win came over, um, Purdue.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 Saturday night on Big Ten Network.

Michigan State is now in the midst of a three-game losing streak following a 31-14 loss to BYU.

Head coach Mark Dantonio said it best during his postgame press conference in that it’s a lot easier to slide backwards than it is to climb forwards. The latter is what he hopes to get the Spartans doing more going forward, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get there.

"As I told our football team after the game, I believe this program has been built on a good, solid foundation. It's taken nine years to do that," Dantonio said. "The ride up the mountain's very difficult at times, and that ride down sometimes is very quick."

Here is a video of Dantonio’s postgame remarks, courtesy of Spartan Sports Network.

Up next for the Spartans: They resume Big Ten play with their Homecoming game against a 2-3 Northwestern team next Saturday.

Spartans are 7-1-1 against the spread in their last nine games against the Fighting Irish.

Are we at “Peak MSU” or is there another golden age of coaching in East Lansing?

The post-Connor Cook era begins with Tyler O'Connor.

3 teams from the state of Michigan have better QB situations than the Spartans?

Big Ten Network focuses on Spartans training camp with “Green and White Days.”

While many say the advent of media days is the beginning of football season, the truth is we’ve still got more than a month until a real-life Michigan State Spartans game.

To help us all get through it, the Big Ten Network is premiering "Green and White Days," a show dedicated to the team’s preseason training camp. You can check out a little preview here:

G&WD promises "all-access" so hopefully we’re in for some real behind-the-scenes footage of how Mark Dantonio and crew shape and motivate their players. This quote from Big Ten president Mark Silverman in the Detroit Free Press sounds promising:

"It’s our second time we’ve done it, and we thought it would make sense to follow the team that won the Big Ten last year," Silverman said. "MSU is always very open with us and letting us come in and show a lot of behind-the-scenes and special-access kind of content."

Ohio State was the star of a similar show last season. The three-part series debuts on BTN at 7 p.m. Aug. 18 and will have one episode per week.

Spartans originally recruited 2015 four-star receiver.