MSU football MUST show these three things vs. FAU; Is this game all upside for Aidan Chiles?

there is no debating Michigan state must show us these three things in their opening game against Florida Atlantic guys it is here it is game day let's go you are locked on Spartans your daily podcast on the Michigan State Spartans part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day 5H Hour Energy fixes tired fast with zero sugar and a convenient portable size it's the perfect pickme up for getting stuff done go to 5H hour energy.com and use promo code locked on CFB to receive 20% off your order this offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions go to 5 Hour energy.com today no offense Five Hour Energy I know we just spoke nicely about you will not need you today though we are amped we are ready for a kickoff we know that you are too guys if if you are listening to this it is official we are within 24 hours of Spartans vers owls we get to talk about actual games if you're driving up to Spartan Stadium right now cannot thank you enough for making us part of your game day routine right here at locked on Spartans your team in green and white five days a week please rate review subscribe and let's just get right into the show here oh man I've been looking forward to this one for a very long time to kick things off we're going to talk about the three things that are just non-negotiables for Friday night we have to see these line items be accomplished by Michigan State against a group of five team in Florida Atlantic they went 4 and eight last year they saw a mass Exodus in the transfer portal and like Michigan State whole lot of new players on their team including a quarterback okay but guys hey let's talk about our side of the ball right here our Michigan State smartens because number one hey stop the Run yeah well no kidding that's going to be a line item for every single game but why is this important for week one well yeah does it help to win sure certainly but more importantly it's gonna give us the fans a nice foreshadowing moment of what can come the rest of the season now look this is most likely a strength for Michigan State we've talked about the linebacking room being a strength for this team specifically in the Run stopping category all right you know Jordan Turner Cal Halliday Jordan Hall they're going to clog up the lanes and add some thumps to the other team's running backs All Season okay we're not worried about that it's also likely going to be a weakness for Florida Atlantic and you know what guys one of the big question marks going into the season is Michigan State's front four right whether it's the pass rush whether it's hey the two starting defensive tackles Maverick Hans dquan D can they bring it every single game regardless you're the the power four team right here they are the group of five team no matter how big the question mark is you should be able to outmuscle them in the trenches right off the bat and well let's just talk about those Florida Atlantic weaknesses here for a little bit they got a good Center all right Federico manges okay and outside of him well it's some new linemen okay they've got a guard one that's a red shirt freshman that has never played college football and another's a senior who was just rotational guy last year their tackles is a third Stringer from Florida State last year who transferred in okay and then another rotational guy they also lost their top two running backs from last year so this is all to say plainly the evidence is there that Michigan State should have the wickedly upper hand in this matchup and if Florida Atlantic runs the ball with success okay that's a little bit of a concern moving forward here you might be leaving this game Friday night thinking uhoh now if they accomplish this does it mean that oh yeah that's we are just going to be stalwarts on on defense in the Run game the rest of the season no but you know you pass a test and this is kind of going to go into Point number two that we have to see it is moving the ball painlessly on the ground okay this is another example of if you're successful cool like that's what you're supposed to do that's kind of your job but if you fail well then yikes and we kind of saw this last year guys right against Central Michigan again when your first game is against a group of five opponent one of the big takeaways you could have is how will the trenches look now last year on paper Michigan State against the chipa they ran for 4.1 yards per carry that's okay but you got to go further than just that number because there was only seven runs in that game that went for at least five yards you should be doing a lot more damage against a group of five defense and who else remembers this God I almost threw my popcorn on the field with this last year they got stuffed on fourth and one right off the bat in that game and well wouldn't you know it that was a theme that continued to happen throughout the entire year is getting jammed up on short yardage situations because well you couldn't do it against Central yeah no kidding they couldn't do it against Big 10 teams so yes guys I just like the last topic that we talked about being able to stop the run being able to run the ball against Florida Atlantic with somewhat of ease I'm not going to say they're going to Scamper for eight yards per carry but you should be able to get stuff done like it's kind of like that report card grade that you would get back in Middle School uh for gym class right like okay let's say you move the ball you you get an A cool like that that again is what you are supposed to do like we're not GNA pop champagne on the show here we're not going to call it hey you know what mission accomplished for the entire season but you walk away from that game okay doing what you were supposed to do now if you get a c minus in gym class or if you get a c minus in this run game and you do get stuffed on some short yard situations you don't have as many explosive runs as you're supposed to have against a group of five team well then what's gonna happen against oh I don't know Maryland a team that's also going to be solid defensively or I don't know the Ohio State Oregon uh the uh Iowas of the world the michigans of the world like yeah that's going to be a cause for concern kind of as how it was last year against Central Michigan walking away from that game now look when it comes to Michigan State's run defense versus Florida Atlantic's run offense that we just talked about and how it's going to be pretty lopsided on paper maybe this won't be as lopsided because Florida Atlantic on their front six all six of those players returned from last year so there is a high level of floor for the Florida Atlantic owls here but still again guys you're the Big 10 team they're the group of five team it should be a onesided battle let's stick with the offensive line here for the third thing that we absolutely have to see Friday night under the in Spartan Stadium and that is good pass protection I know that hey a lot of this might seem obvious that yeah you want to protect your quarterback you want to stop the run you want to run the ball but we're adding pass protection because this is a question mark going into the season guys right like it hasn't been great shakes on offensive line here in East Lancing the last few years yes you got Tanner Miller you got Luke Newman two really good transfer linemen but for the other guys is it going to be just fine this year or is it going to be you know a positive now you need to see good pass protection because it just like we said FAU their front six massive experience they all come back from that defense last year I do want to throw this out they graded 45th out of the 61 group of five teams at pass rush per Pro Football Focus so yes they all come back but it's not like it's going to be Hell in a Cell there or at least it wasn't last year so it's a good test for Michigan State but again one they should win this is going to be another one where if Aiden Charles has to Scamper out of the pocket or if he just doesn't look comfortable the entire night you can leave this game maybe having a sideways eye of uh oh what's to come here if it wasn't a smooth night against that team from boka Ron so look it's not just keeping Aiden childes healthy it's not just making sure he doesn't get absolutely blown to Smither early on in the game and miss any time it's giving him the confidence in the pocket very early on this is one of the things that hey young quarterbacks young dual threat quarterbacks might use as a crutch to often and that's their own legs bailing out of pockets way too early the before the play can even fully materialize well give him a reason to trust a pocket early on if he feels the pressure on his heels against the owls well next week when we play a really solid team on the road in Maryland a team that has a really solid defense coming back what do you think is going to happen like he's going to be out of that pocket in 1.3 seconds it's not going to be a fun evening so who is eating up the most pressure this week it's that offensive line guys they got to show us that they can get some run Lanes going on some pass protection going on and yes the run defense just show yourselves as a strength early on to not just win the game hey let's all go into the rest of our Labor Day weekend without some concerns here right guys like that that'd be nice we we don't want stress or okay okay we all know that stress is going to happen here at least if you're like me and you freak out against any opponent but let's just keep it a lower level of stress we got tons more to talk about including your quarterback we're gonna spend some time on here yes Mr Aiden Charles but first guys fuel up for the season with Factor Foods now it's no mess meals and hey they will let you meet your Wellness goals thanks to their chef crafted meals with options like calorie smart Protein Plus and keto 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game day routine let's say you still got some time with your drive after this episode episode go ahead and make lockdown college football your second listen our host Spencer MC golin yes he talks confidence realignment nil transfer portal but hey guys we actually have games to talk about again locked on college football of course part of the locked on podcast Network now I gotta say like we're gonna get into aen Childs here in a little bit but just let let the fan in me talk and just the borderline mentally deranged uh fan let me talk really quick because it's no secret that we all get excited for opening night right like every single week one there's a Mystique in the air there's an energy the team is still undefeated The Vibes are high but I don't know guys maybe you're like this too maybe you're not feel free to let me know in the comments below or at lockdown Spartans gmail.com but I I feel like this is a 12 out of 10 excitement level right now like I I'm excited to watch meaningful football again in East Lancing and of course I think a lot of this coincides with what happened last year right like I think everyone or at maybe 95% of fans had this moment maybe you're part of the 5% that is truly just a DI hard and really optimistic but eventually at some point last year you kind of realize that the season was going nowhere maybe it was after that Washington game where they lost by 200 points maybe it was that Iowa game maybe it was as long as that Ruckers game later that year but eventually you're kind of thinking um even the wins won't mean anything this isn't really going anywhere now that's not to say we didn't care during the games or that we didn't watch anymore of course we did but even the wins against Indiana and Nebraska it kind of left thinking that was fun not sure if that really means anything but guys I'm excited to watch this week I will be watching this game as it's as if it's a late November Big 10 Clash to get into a college football playoff or the conference title I am going to live and die with every snap whether it's a blowout whether we're going into triple overtime whatever it is I I am very excited four opening week every year but God this one has just a little bit more on it because of what this means for the restart of the program and guys for the better part of the last 11 months not a lot of smiles have been had not a lot of serious football has been played but it is back and guys the excitement starts with the quarterback that's right arguably the biggest offseason storyline here in East Lancing Aiden Charles right we've been talking him up of course we have all offseason there's a reason this cat was ranked the number two overall transfer quarterback in the nation last year he's got the legs he's got the cannon of an arm and well he's got the eligibility too he's here for at least two more years of Eligibility which is nice three if he really wants it but nevertheless as excited as we are we're gonna try to heed Jonathan Smith's advice here and that is just patience okay have excitement but also have patience now in the first segment we just talked about things that hey if you accomplish them great whoopy Doo really because that's what you're supposed to do against a group of five team and if you don't do it well it's time to panic I think it's almost kind of the opposite here with Aiden child where if he struggles I don't think it's the end of the world I don't think that you know we could throw our hands up in the air and say oh my God is it too late to go in the transfer portal and get another guy like no this is going to be part of the patience however if he does succeed if he does look pretty good then we can actually walk away from this game thinking wow that's a higher Baseline than we thought that we were going to be starting the season with this well now 18 soon to be 19yearold true sophomore quarterback if he struggles again not the end of the world because well we've seen sophomores take over as a new starter in East Lancing and struggle earlier on we got to scale the clock back 11 years to 2013 when Connor Cook took over that was a very slow start for that offense it took a little bit to build but guys there's so many reasons that it could be sputtering here early on and this isn't to make excuses for Aiden early on like these are all legitimate reasons why hey it could be a slow start first and foremost he quarterback is a hard position to play like yes he got some experience in Oregon State last year but just 100 snaps what is it going to be like with a full game as a starter well especially with new receivers that you have to break in game chemistry with it's going to be a sold out crowd the immense pressure of just coming in as a captain as that top ranked quarterback in the transfer portal like that is a lot hanging over him so if it is a little rocky I I would not just chalk up the season as a loss just be a little patient now I will say this if we go through the first four games of the year and yeah we're looking at eight interceptions five touchdowns he's making horrific decisions with the ball he's not sliding at all he's just trying to get blown up by linebackers okay will check in in a month and then maybe be a little concerned about the uh long-term Outlook of this season and maybe his career but guys this first game I think it's all gravy right now if he looks the part if he stays in the pocket if he could connect early with his new receivers if I made a mention to this just now if he slides and doesn't sign himself up for getting blown up by the defense this is all positive so I think really for Aiden child barring anything crazy like a six interception game and he accidentally hands the ball off to a defensive tackle instead of Nathan Carter like I like there is a scenario where it is that bad but I I find it really hard to believe that it could get so bad that we are going to panic about the long term of the Season ahead now this was interesting from earlier this week the media availability this tweet comes from Kenny Jordan of Spartan mag saying that Jonathan Smith on aen Charles to end his press conference he said this quote he'll be confident in the opening plays because he'll wait in on on what those plays are then he needs to just go and let it rip so interesting that the quarterback has some input on those what they call scripted plays the first set of 10 or 15 plays that you get any given Saturday or in this case Friday but yeah Aiden Charles with some input in the offense early on now Ryan Cole as we get into mailbag questions here in a little bit he asked what should we expect from Charles on the ground design runs scrambles should we want him to avoid running so he can stay healthy now last year not just Aiden Charles but also DJ OU young gay over at o uh not Oklahoma State sorry Oregon State under Jonathan Smith and Brian lingren both of them combined uh it was about one out of every 10 plays was a designed Run for the quarterback so it's not like he's going to be putting you know 18 Rush attempts on the ground early on especially this early on in the season when you're trying to keep him healthy so something like that yes there will be designed runs for him but it might not be as often as you think so just to you know have a baseline level of of thought for Aiden child's running we're looking at last year for that again you got to go down and be smart if you're close to a sideline let's just go ahead and step out of bounds if you are in the middle of the field and you got three guys that are looking to send your head to the 40th row of section 16 might be smart just to do a little baseball slide and move on to the next play instead of try to fight a losing battle for extra yards here uh we are going to get to more mailbag questions here but first we're we're going to go through two rule changes uh to college football this year the first one in helmet coacht player communication now if you're in the stands you might not even recognize this but uh one player on each side of the ball will have a helmet with communication on the inside uh you almost like a radio communication with the coaches so Rossy spoke about this in uh his press conference earlier this year with the or sorry this week with the media and acknowledge that you the thing he's most concerned about is making sure there's just one guy with a Green Dot on the helmet that's going to be the designated guy on the field at the same time saying that there could be moments this this season where there's no one on the field because well they'd rather air on the side of caution and have no one with the Green Dot than have two and take a penalty um so with this the coaches can talk to the players up until there's 15 seconds left on the play clock that's both for offense and defense and it was interesting that Rossy uh spoke to one of his former players that currently plays in the NFL and wears one of helmets the top piece of advice he got do not overt talk do not flood the players mind with so many thoughts like yes you can say hey you know what here's the play also watch out for this Blitzer right now he's gonna be coming or hey watch out for him uh coming in motion you can talk up until 15 seconds left the other one that we want to point out here this is what you will feel as a fan is the two minute warning for some reason they're calling it The two-minute timeout in college football it is the same exact thing is a two-minute warning in the NFL they just had to be weird about it and give it another name so those are the two rule changes we wanted to talk about before we get into mailbag questions but first guys need to talk your ears about Five Hour Energy and yeah we said that you know what might not Five Hour Energy today but my goodness gracious I know that when I wake up on Saturday we might be using some Five Hour Energy here uh because we're gonna have to get 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order cannot be sorry on one order and cannot be used with any other promotions the code is is not good on subscription orders so head over to 5our energy.com today folks HomeField apparel they will make you the best dressed person at the stadium at the tailgate at the sports bar in your own living room wherever you are going to rock HomeField apparel you are going to thank yourself get ready for kickoff with your can't miss kickoff 2024 campaign guys they got the best t-shirts longsleeve t-shirts crew neck sweatshirts hoodies they even have hats too whatever you get you're going to treat yourself to a vintage logo that they have in their roll of decks and maybe not even just for Michigan State maybe you're a Kennesaw State fan well yeah they have all sorts of schools and not only does it look Sensational guys this is the most comfortable clothing I have in my closet it feels like an angel is hugging me whenever I'm rocking HomeField apparel better yet with HomeField apparel they want to start saving you money right off the bat when you had to HomeField apparel.com Smash in promo code on Spartans and if you're a firsttime customer that's 15% off your first order again guys go check out their Michigan State apparel all sorts of other colleges over at HomeField apparel.com use promo code on Spartans for 15% off your first order all right let's dive into the mailbag here because plenty of questions from early this week thank you very much Reach Out shanor Sports on Twitter or locked on Spartans gmail.com Professor writes in give me an unexpected contributor on both sides of the ball interesting question here because this answer is dependent on what kind of a fan you are like are you part of the message board conglomerate are you an everyday listener of this show do you just bleed green and white so much so that your family is so sick of talking to you because you shoehorn MSU football into every conversation well that could very well be the case or hey is this your first episode you're listening to because you haven't even thought about Michigan State football until this very moment and you just want to refresher well this is what it depends on so for the offensive side the ball guys like for the fans that are just joining this season I think Jon Glover is a name you got to keep your eye out on like he played sparingly last year but as he's gonna grow in his role he's now the number two receiver going into this season I think Jon Glover is going to be a household name by the end of this month or moving down that list you know what Brennan perich okay this is a tight end that should flourish under Brian lingren system or even Michael munis because Brandon perek has been in and out this fall camp injuries maybe it's going to be Michael munis that is the tight end behind Jack Vin in the pecking order regardless this staff loves to use multiple tight end sets so Brandon perek and Michael munis will be unexpected names if you guys don't already know them by now now for the DI hard fans for the the guys that know every single name on this roster maybe it's wide receiver Jaylen Smith young kid red shirt freshman I wouldn't be surprised if he has some moments this year I don't think he'll have any games where it's you know five catches 113 yards and a touchdown but look he can play sparingly this year we we've been hearing really good things about this kid from Texas and earlier this week it was leted out that you know what Michigan State might rotate between six and seven receivers coming up this season or at least to start the season on Tor Foster Jon Glover Nick Marsh those are your three starters right there elante Brown Isaiah Johnson Antonio Gates Jr maybe Jaylen Smith is that seventh guy in the mix there now for def defense again if you're just tuning in for the first time you haven't even caught any transfer news this off season well Wayne Matthews is a linebacker that is going to make a difference especially in the past coverage game to ladder down maybe you don't know Alex Van suer because he has played so sparingly here he did not play at all last year but this is a kid two years ago came into Michigan State as the Spartans top commit defensive tackle and hey speaking of former four stars former guys that are among the best in their state Ben Roberts aka Big Worm transfer from Oregon he was the top player in the state of Utah a few years ago can we get something out of them from defensive tackle now I do wonder about arm Maran Smith to this was like the niche gu is going to go for safety showed up pretty well last year in a backup role of course if you haven't heard the news his mother passed very recently and if that isn't just horrible and stressful enough as a college student he's got five siblings that he just recently took guardianship over so I I don't even know if he's going to be on the field to start the season but he was a strong performer in a backup role last year that's who I would go with for like a niche kind of guy right there arm Marian Smith but if it is a slow start to the year for him if he doesn't you know produce at all this year wildly understandable lot going on off the field in that kid's life uh so sorry to kind of be a downer there at the end but some uh context to go along with our Maran Smith Matty C writes in do you think we come out guns blazing and Hammer at or is it more like last year oh I will only be satisfied with a scorched Earth policy I do think it is going to be a little like last year just because you know both offenses really I think just game style as a whole both offenses might take a while to find their footing in this game right now the side of the ball that's more established with both teams is the defense so that's why I think it might be a SLO I will have a score prediction here at the end but I think it'll be kind of slow out out the gates I hope I'm run but that's where I'm at right now GP Sparty writes in what level of panic mode will Matt go into if we go down three I will not lie my resting heart rate will Spike to about 180 beats per minute should Florida Atlantic be the team to strike first but no Panic quote unquote in the air quotes that's gonna set in if it's halftime and like FAU has moved the ball with ease and or MSU is stuck at like 10 points and it really seems like a grinding 10 point points nothing's really working out so well that that's when I will be panicked if Michigan state is down like seven plus points at halftime and they are just not moving the ball or hey cam faner the quarterback for the ows is just making life miserable for us that that's what I'm going to start to perspire a little bit here and that's going to be a sweaty postgame episode of Locked on Spartans Spencer writes in would it be crazy to see KRON Lynch Adams ending up with a better season than Nate Carter no I would not use the word crazy at all I suspect that Nate Carter will will still be the starting running back he will still get the slight Edge in the line share of car's for running back but is it out of the realm of possibility that KRON Lynch Adams ends the season with more carries with more yards no I mean I'll save the set for the 100th time in the last few weeks get 800 yards after contact last year at UMass okay that's top 20 in the country this kid when he got hit almost woke him up and he said fine I'll just go get 3.6 more yards after this so really strong run just like Nate Carter so I don't think it would be out of the RM with possibility for him to jump Nate Carter do I expect it no but crazy no I I don't think at all by any stretch of the imagination Jack writes in what will our first play look like I actually went look back the last three years at Oregon State Brian lingren has called a passing play the last three years I think it's going to be the same this year you know something to get child's feet wet you know wet his whistle a little bit bit get him something comfortable not like a bomb 30 yards down field but maybe like a shallow screen for example and what that is okay so you bring the guy in motion he's just behind the defensive line like this isn't a play or a route that's going to go any further than three yards beyond the line of scrimmage dump it off right to him the ball should travel no more than six yards in the air just a nice little pitch and catch to get started or hey maybe draw something up a nice little hitch route from Jack Val have him sit there in the middle of that defense five yards in and just again pitch and catch just something to get going I I don't think it'll be anything extreme and I do think it will be a pass play Caleb writes in do you like the recent tradition of playing Friday night week one Caleb I don't like it I absolutely love it it is the greatest because we talked about this the other day it's like having that first game of March Madness you know it's a puckering feeling when you wake up in the morning like I'm very anxious right now just talking about the game but you know what you get it over with you get to enjoy the rest of your Labor Day weekend whether you're going up north or on vacation or of yard work to do or if you do want to sit down and watch the rest of these games you could just watch them without the looming presence of your game later on that night like it it is a really great way to have a stress-free Labor Day Austin writes in are you taking the over in the first game versus FAU we did Best Bets yesterday one of my Best Bets is under 45 and a half this game game everything we just talked about both offenses kind of question Marky both defenses kind of know where they're at and well this was even before considering the weather right now it looks kind of Fringe if there will be any precipitation but uh yeah we will see about that one I'm going to go under because well as we go to the last question from Jackson obviously we need a final score prediction I'm going to go with your Michigan State Spartans 27 Florida Atlantic 13 that is what we are going to go with here guys I just no matter what it is I don't care if it's quadruple overtime I don't care if it's a 50o blowout I just need to see a Michigan State Victory you need to see a Michigan State Victory we all need to see a Michigan State Victory because it has been way too long since we have genuinely all shared Great Smiles together on the football field the new beginning is here the restart to the program is here the Jonathan Smith era is upon us the season is here my goodness ious I I could get emotional right now this is amazing guys we'll be back we we'll be back um we are going to record pretty much right after the game here on YouTube if you listen to it via podcast we're going to try to get it within the hour after the game if you're driving home from Spartan sty but yes instant reaction because I will not be at the game unfortunately so that means all you have to be extra loud on third down if not for yourselves well then do it for me your favorite podcast host or hopefully maybe even your top 50 favorite podcast host regardless guys I love you you guys are all the best the viewers the listeners take care of yourselves let's mix into water today go green woohoo