welcome back to another episode of rock boys football the Jonathan Smith era getting kicked off in East Lancing with FAU coming to town Friday night I think this is a fascinating match up where you look at FAU and say Tom Herman won I like what he's doing at FAU but I think more importantly he is overturning this roster 20 new new players coming in through the transfer portal you look at Michigan State Jonathan Smith taking over I think for my money one of the most most talented quarterbacks Michigan state has seen in a very long time kind of taking over the offense there is a lot of excitement around this Michigan State program one of my best friends Michigan State fan he is fired up for Friday night quite frankly I am too and I was very vocal all offseason long that you know I think Jonathan Smith is the perfect coach in East laning and we're gonna get kind of that first impression from Jonathan Smith Friday night want to get into you know a few key matchups how this game might go what do we want to see from Jonathan Smith from Aiden Charles at quarterback now before we get into it as always one to the Michigan State fans would love to hear how you guys are feeling about this one in the comment section what do you want to see from Aiden Charles what do you want to see from Jonathan Smith and if you got any game predictions throw them down in the comment section I'll give you mine at the end of the episode and if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel without further Ado let's get into this one I want to start with this Michigan State offense going up against an fa defense that you know was pretty solid against the run last year only allowing 3.8 yards per carry that was 36 in the country but a secondary that wasn't very good I think if you're Jonathan Smith if you're a Michigan State fan if you're Aiden Charles you're kind of excited to kick off the Aiden Charles Jonathan Smith ERA with an FAU defense that gave up a lot in the back end last year and I think when you look at fa's defense they're just going to give you stuff underneath right this was a secondary that allowed a 60 5% completion percentage last year that was 115th in the country kind of one of those B don't break defenses right we're going to give you the stuff underneath try to take away the explosive play I think what I'm most excited for is a couple of different things number one can Aiden Charles be patient as a quarterback right can Aiden Charles just take what fa's given you march your way down the football field play disciplined football and then go execute in the Red Zone that's probably what you're looking for the most but I think on the flip side you look at these Michigan State wide receivers and say what can they do in space right FAU is going to give you some of that short intermediate stuff can Aiden Childs make those thrs consistently and then can we get the Michigan State wide receivers to create a little bit after the catch I mean this was a Michigan State offense that last year 5.9 yards per pass attempt that was dead last in the Big 10 really struggled to be explosive in the passing attack there's two ways that you can manufacture explosive plays one pushing the ball down the field which we all know Aiden Charles can do you have a true fresh and wide receiver Nick Marsh who certainly can work vertically down the field but you can also manufacture explosive plays by getting your Playmakers in space getting the football in their hands quickly letting them work after the catch and so I'm kind of interested to see the blend of Aiden Childs and what Jonathan Smith ass of Aiden child's week one against FAU and that I I'll have my eyeballs on this Michigan State offensive line where you go four years down the road I think you're going to be looking at a Michigan State program that under Jonathan Smith is built in the trenches for a lack of better terms that being said week one or year one I guess we might have some question marks about how good is this Michigan State offensive line going into 2024 again I think it's going to be really good in four years maybe even two or three years that being said we might have some question marks I know my Michigan State buddy certainly has some question marks on the offensive line that'll be what I'm looking at and I think the best thing you can do for a Young quarterback like Aiden child is hey give him a good rushing attack you have an extremely talented running back and Nate Carter can you give Aiden Charles a solid ground game that keeps you on schedule in front of the chains probably the best thing you can do for a Young quarterback and Aiden Charles now flipping over to the defensive side of the football this is an FAU team that wants to throw the football 55% of their plays last year from the line of scrimmage were pass attempts 21st in the country veteran quarterback and cam fer coming in from Marshall the way I look at this matchup is one I I'm a massive fan of Joe Rossy the Michigan State fans who've been rocking with the boys for a while know Joe Rossy is one of those defensive coordinators that I have a ton of respect for does is this FAU team the able to challenge Michigan State in the secondary where you know I look at this Michigan State secondary and said hey over the last couple years they've had the talent in the back end I don't think the coaching staff was good enough quite frankly you add a defensive coordinator in Joe Rossy who I think is one of the best in the business especially working with defensive backs you take a look at what he's done with Minnesota over the last couple years it's been very good and I think he has the talent to have a good secondary and then you look at FAU and say we got a transfer quarterback who was just named starter in Camp six days ago we have to replace our best wide receiver from last year and leonte Wester who went for over 1100 yards last year my question is does FAU have the difference makers to really separate and make plays on Michigan State down the football field I don't know we'll kind of find out Friday night I think the second storyline here is what's Michigan State's defensive line look like and I'll say this at six months ago I had some massive question marks about Michigan State and what they could be on the defensive line yeah had Ben Roberts late in the transfer portal you're hearing some Buzz about some other guys stepping up in Fall camp but I'm feeling a little bit better and again kind of like we talked about the offensive line I expect the defensive line for Michigan State to be much better come year two year three as Jonathan Smith you know continues to build this program the right way we had some question marks that's probably still where your biggest question marks are because we look at the secondary we look at the Lineback room and say really really solid how good and deep is this defensive line going to be that's probably the question that we want to look for and I want to see the pass rush right we know fa is gonna want to throw the football can Michigan State impact the passer on those third and Longs probably the bigger question I have for this Michigan State Defense now getting into the game prediction the game pick Aiden Charles gave us some advice said take the over I'm going to take Michigan State in the points 13 and a half inside of two touchdowns at home against an FAU team that you know is replacing a lot of bodies through the transfer portal look Michigan state is too but I think they have the talent Advantage as well I think they have the quarterback Advantage I think they have the coaching Advantage with Jonathan Smith and quite frankly I like how this Michigan State team matches up against FAU where they're going to want to the football they have a transfer quarterback a lot of new faces in the wide receiver room going up against the Joe Rossy defense with the Michigan State secondary that I think is pretty dang talented give me Michigan State to cover the 13 and a half points Friday night fired up for the Jonathan Smith eror will'll cut it there again appreciate you guys rocking with it if yall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel and we'll talk to y'all later