Michigan State takes care of business against Richmond with top-10 test looming

East Lansing — A week away from its first big test of the season, Michigan State was all business on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

With a matchup looming next week against No. 8 Washington, the Spartans wasted little time taking care of business against Richmond, rolling over the FCS opponent, 45-14, behind three touchdown passes from Noah Kim, three scoring runs from Nathan Carter and a defense that had seven sacks.

“It was really about us and our execution and our discipline,” Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said. “We started fast on defense. We didn't start as fast on offense, but we were able to get going and we have a lot of players that can make plays on offense, defense and special teams. We just have to continue to get better and learn from our mistakes and build on the things that we did well.”

There was plenty the Spartans (2-0) did well on both sides of the ball.

Kim missed a couple throws on the opening possession of the game, but in his second career start he settled in quickly, going 18-for-22 for 292 yards. He threw touchdown passes to Tre Mosley, Tyneil Hopper and Antonio Gates Jr. while completing 15 straight passes before exiting the game in the fourth quarter.

Carter ran hard even as his two primary backups — Jalen Berger and Jaren Mangham — were unavailable. Mangham was listed as questionable for the second straight game and left the field during pregame warm-ups while Berger carried twice in the first quarter then left the game without returning. Carter carried 19 times for 111 yards — his second straight 100-yard game.

Mosley finished with five receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought our performance was better, I thought we showed some improvement,” said Kim, whose last incomplete pass came late in the first quarter. “That was one of the key things we wanted to focus on in practice this past week. We showed hints of that, but I still think that there's a lot to improve on. We're gonna figure exactly what that is after we watch the film. We're looking to make some more improvements here this coming week, but overall I thought it was a good one.”

BOX SCORE: Michigan State 45, Richmond 14

Michigan State was efficient outside of two plays. Those two plays led to both Richmond touchdowns.

The first came early in the fourth quarter when running back Jordon Simmons fumbled on his only carry. The ball was returned 47 yards for a touchdown by Aaron Banks to put the Spiders on the scoreboard. Later in the fourth, Davion Primm fumbled and four plays later, Sean Clarke caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Hardy.

“I believe we can take more positives out of this game,” Richmond coach Russ Huesman said. “I think it was a physical game and it was really physical down on the field. We got banged up a little bit … We had people in and out and it was tough because they were physical. But I think we can still take positives from this.”

Michigan State’s defense made it difficult all game for Richmond (0-2) as the Spiders had 193 total yards and were 1-for-12 on third downs, failing to convert on their first 10 attempts.

“We’re really focused on the win today,” cornerback Dillon Tatum said. “We’re mad about those two scores in the game, but we’re excited and ready to get after it (next week).”

For the second straight week, it took the Michigan State offense a minute to get going as the Spartans opened the game with two straight three-and-outs.

On the second punt, however, Richmond returner Savon Smith let the ball slip through his hands and it was recovered by Hank Pepper, Michigan State’s long snapper. It set up the Spartans at the Spiders’ 19 and five plays later, Kim connected with Mosley for an 11-yard touchdown pass that put Michigan State up, 7-0, midway through the first quarter.

The turnover seemed to spark Michigan State overall as the defense turned Richmond over on downs and the offense answered with an eight-play, 69-yard scoring drive that ended with a 13-yard pass from Kim to Hopper, the first catch as a Spartan for the Boise State transfer. The drive was highlighted by a 31-yard connection between Kim and redshirt freshman wide receiver Jaron Glover, helping give Michigan State a 14-0 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter.

The Spartans had another long drive later in the quarter, though it stalled out leading to a 52-yard field goal from Jonathan Kim, the longest for a Spartan kicker since Michael Geiger booted a 52-yarder in 2016. The kick put Michigan State up, 17-0, a score that held until halftime.

“I think we can still come out a little faster,” Kim said. “It's just little things here and there, little mistakes that we need to clean up. I think moving forward, I think we should look to start a little faster, just as an offense. I think overall it was a good win.”

Michigan State kept pouring it on after halftime, scoring touchdowns on all three of its third-quarter possessions to open up a 38-0 lead.

Carter scored the first of his three touchdowns on the opening drive of the second half, plowing in from 2 yards out to put Michigan State ahead, 24-0. After the defense forced a punt, Carter broke off a 44-yard run, diving into the end zone to push the lead to 31-0. And following another three-and-out, Carter carried the load and scampered in from 6 yards out to make it 38-0.

Richmond got on the board early in the fourth quarter when Simmons fumbled. The ball was scooped up by Banks, who dashed in for the touchdown. Michigan State answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Kim to Gates, pushing the lead to 45-7 lead with 11:33 left to play.

The Spiders added their second score with 5:16 to play after the Primm fumble.

“I thought we played hard, we played fast,” Kim said. “We wanted to keep scoring, we wanted to still be on the field, we wanted to run the ball. We basically wanted to have a complete game on offense. When you have a complete game, I think that just makes everybody on the offense's job a little bit easier and it stretches the defenses out. Going into next week, we look to be able to have a complete game with the fewest amount of mistakes.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

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