As they have the past three years, the Michigan State Football team will open the season with a game against a clearly inferior opponent. With MSU expected to win by a large margin and a matchup against a nationally-ranked Notre Dame squad looming next on the schedule, some Spartan fans will write this game off early. To phrase the great Lee Corso, “Not so fast.”
While anything short of a blowout win would be disappointing, the Spartans’ Friday evening battle with the Furman Paladins will feature quite a few subplots to keep an eye on. These storylines will play out throughout the entire season, but Friday night’s game will indicate the direction of these key factors to MSU’s quest for consecutive Big Ten championships.