2021 Michigan State Spartans

Leonardfan

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
22,968
Since 2005, the Spartans have had 7, 5, 7, 10, 10, 10, 12, 8, 9, 8, 8, 10, 11, 11, 10 and 11 white starters. The Spartans look to start 11 in 2021.

MSU is a program in transition - Mark Dantonio retired after the 2019 season (If I recall there was alot of pressure on the whole Athletic Department after the Larry Nassar sex scandal). His departure will probably hurt the Spartans in the long run as during his tenure he fielded several teams with double digit white starters and was very successful. He had 6 10+ Win seasons during his tenure. The 2020 season for Sparty was a bust after their thrilling win vs Michigan in the first week of Big Ten play. Time will tell how this new regime will change Michigan St.

Going into 2021 this is certainly a team to watch and root for. Alot of depth and experience on the defensive side of the ball. For the QB battle - Russo was inconsistent and never took that jump while playing at Temple. He was a good QB but not great, hopefully he can elevate his game in the Big Ten.

Players to watch:
LB - Ben VanSumeren - transferred from Michigan - smart move. To make it even better his highly recruited brother - 4 Star DT Alex VanSumeren de-committed from Michigan and commited to MSU as well. Alex will be on the team in 2022.
CB Spencer Rowland - D-III transfer - 3rd team D-3 All-American in 2019 - let's hope he gets playing time

Other players of note on the depth chart: OG Blake Beuter, WR Cade McDonald, DT Maverick Hansen, DE Jack Camper, DE Jeff Pietrowski, LB Chase Kline, S Tate Hallock

OFFENSE
QB Anthony Russo or Payton Thorne - position battle
TE Tyler Hunt
LT Jarrett Horst
LG J.D. Duplain
C Nick Samac
RG Kevin Jarvis
RT AJ Acruri

DEFENSE
DE Jacub Panasiuk
DT Jacob Slade
DE Drew Beesley
LB Noah Harvey
 

Bucky

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
9,097
Snowplow in East Lansing!

Expecting a good showing from Russo.

4 Overachievers on Defense, led by Panasiuk and Harvey rounds out this team nicely. So far Mel hasn't screwed up the roster too much.

*LT Jarrett Horst (6'6 305) is a Wisconsin Guy. He went the JUCO route out of High School, ended up at Arkansas State as a Starter. Now he's starting LT for Michigan State! Quite the journey. Reminds me a bit of Ryan Ramczyk story a few years back. I know that's a lofty comparison, but it makes sense!

**Also did a double take at the sight of a CB! Of course added as a Walk-On Sr. But cool Rowland gets an opportunity nonetheless. Let's hope he can get some chances as a Nickel CB!
 
Last edited:

Leonardfan

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
22,968
Sparty is probably the whitest team in Michigan - including all the MAC schools. I hope they do well this season. They have a lot of caste matchups - Miami, WKU, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio St, Maryland, PSU. Luckily no Wisconsin or Iowa. They play NW the first game of the year.
 
Top