EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State Spartans return to the field Friday night to kick off the 2016 season against the Furman Paladins.
The Spartans are coming off one of the best seasons in school history -- taking home the Big Ten championship and playing in the College Football Playoff. At the same time, Mark Dantonio is reshuffling the deck on offense as MSU prepares for life without Connor Cook.
Tyler O'Connor takes over as the starting quarterback in Cook's wake. O'Connor was instrumental in Michigan State's biggest win of the 2015 season -- completing seven of 12 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown and rushing eight times for 25 yards. The fifth-year senior has thrown for 374 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in his career.
Michigan State won't ask O'Connor to replace Cook -- who threw for over 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in his senior year -- but it will look to a sophomore to pick up some of the slack.
L.J. Scott was a solid rusher for the Spartans throughout the season, averaging 4.8 yards per rush and scoring 11 touchdowns in 14 games. On Friday, he should get a healthy dose of carries against an overmatched Furman team. Look for Scott to set the tone for the season with the type of physical runs he displayed late against Iowa in the Big Ten title game.
On defense, the Spartans were solid last year, averaging 343 yards allowed -- good for 26th in the country. They'll ask junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell to lead the defense by wreaking havoc in opposing backfields. McDowell posted 41 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a sophomore and is expected to take a big step forward in 2016.
McDowell's ability to get to the quarterback will be a major factor in protecting a secondary that allowed 229.8 passing yards per game last season.
The Spartans shouldn't have much of an issue with a Furman team that went just 4-7 in FCS play last season. The offense is led by running back Antonio Wilcox, who finished with 375 rushing yards in 2015. Reese Hannon threw for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns and returns for his redshirt senior season.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.