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V-Cast: Is Michigan State ready to give Nebraska a fight in difficult road match-up?

On3 imageby: Paul Konyndyk09/30/25PKonyndyk
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EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State faces a difficult road test at Nebraska this weekend with both teams coming off a bye week and each looking to bounce back from a tough loss two weekends ago.

Playing at Nebraska, however, is never easy given the fan support at Memorial Stadium, and the Spartans will need to be on point to keep pace with a high-scoring Husker offense, which ranks in the Top 15 in the FBS in several categories.

After practice and interviews on Tuesday, Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk checked in from Perles Plaza with the latest V-Cast.

V-CAST TOPICS

Back to Fundamentals: Michigan State running backs coach Keith Bonapha indicated on Tuesday that he likes much of what the Spartans have done running the football to this point in the season. He does, however, believe that the Spartans have gone too far off script in the run game with running backs looking for big hitters instead of taking advantage of blocking for 4,5, or 6 yard runs that would keep the Spartan offense on schedule and out of third-and-long scenarios in which defenses can pin their ears back and ramp up the pass-rush. Much of the work that Michigan State running backs have done in practice this week has been centered around following blocks and taking what is available.

Michigan State should be able to get some good production on the ground from quarterback Aidan Chiles, if the Huskers play as much man-to-man defense as they have to this point in the season. Michigan State, however, wants running production from the tailback position in this game.

Road Warriors? Michigan State players have one road game under their belt but have yet to play in a venue like Memorial Stadium at Nebraska. Effective communication on offense will be critical for the Spartans. This is a game where the Spartans will need Chiles to be an effective communicator and leader for his offense.

Reshuffled o-line: With Stanton Ramil out for the next month, Michigan State has some decisions to make about personnel at the offensive tackle position. Last weekend, the Spartans got a functional performance from young offensive tackle Rustin Young in relief of Ramil. The Spartans do, however, have additional options. Michigan State could use a combination of Ashton Lepo, Conner Moore, and Rakeem Johnson to fill their needs at offensive tackle. The Spartans could also decide to continue with Young at the tackle position. Moore has significant left tackle experience from his playing days at Montana State.

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