What to make of Jayden Reed's 2-fumble, 11-catch debut for Michigan State football
EAST LANSING — To say it was an up-and-down debut for Michigan State football sophomore Jayden Reed would be an understatement.
The Western Michigan transfer had his number called on the Spartans’ first offensive play of the season. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi threaded the ball to his new wide receiver on a slant. Reed made the catch and started to run...
Until the Scarlet Knights’ Avery Young jarred the ball free and recovered it.
It was the first of two costly fumbles for Reed in the Spartans’ 38-27 home loss vs. Rutgers on Saturday.
“I’ve just got to do my job,” Reed said. “When there’s a crowd around me I’ve got to protect the ball with two hands. That’s preached to us in practice and Coach (Mel) Tucker also preaches to us, ‘Next play,’ when stuff like that happens, you’ve got to move on. You can't keep that in your head and let that affect you on the next player or drive.”
Despite the turnovers, the positives for Reed were impossible to overlook.
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The 6-foot, 185-pounder became the first MSU player in history to record a 100-yard receiving performance in his debut, finishing with 128 yards on 11 catches and a pair of electrifying scores that helped Lombardi, the Spartans' new starter, throw for a career-high 319 yards and three touchdowns. Reed also added a 29-yard kickoff return that set MSU up with good field position after his first fumble.
Tucker said Reed “is not a player that you see putting the ball on the ground in practice” and expects that first-game issue to be resolved.
“Obviously, you can see Jayden can make plays — he's an explosive athlete,” Tucker said Saturday night. “He can make plays in the return game, he's an explosive receiver, he can make guys miss, he's got really good hands and he's got good burst and acceleration. … He's a weapon for us. He's hard to cover and he can make plays. We're going to continue to work with him and get him forward to where he needs to be.”
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The Spartans committed seven turnovers in the loss, six of them on offense. Still, MSU managed 369 yards thanks to Reed and fellow sophomore receiver Jalen Nailor, who had career bests with 84 yards and a touchdown on six catches. (Nailor also turned it over on a punt return.)
Reed said he is “very critical of myself and my team.”
“There’s a lot off potential in our offense,” he said. “We just gotta fix the fundamental errors as far as protecting the ball and stuff like that. But those are things we can correct and get better at.”
Depth chart revisited
MSU did not release an official depth chart, and it does not seem like Tucker will this season. Saturday was the first chance to see what the past month of practice resolved in key position battles.
On offense, Lombardi made his fourth career start at QB and his first since beating Rutgers in the 2018 regular-season finale. Junior Connor Heyward was a surprise starter over Elijah Collins at running back. With wide receiver C.J. Hayes out after foot surgery and Laress Nelson not in uniform, true freshman Ricky White took over after Tre Mosley got hurt in the second half. Sophomore Trenton Gillison was the first tight end to appear in the game.
Upfront, there were a few surprises. Kevin Jarvis took over at right tackle for Jordan Reid, who opted out this season. Jarvis played left tackle last season before getting hurt and missing three games. AJ Arcuri returned as starter at LT, with fellow senior Matt Allen at center. On the interior, Blake Bueter started at left guard and rotated with J.D. Duplain. Matt Carrick started at RG.
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On defense, MSU shifted to a 4-2-5 from the base 4-3 Mark Dantonio’s program operated from the past 13 years. Seniors Drew Beesley and Jacub Panasiuk occupied defensive end and senior Naquan Jones and sophomore Jacob Slade operated at tackle along the line. They had assistance from backup ends Jack Camper and Michael Fletcher, and tackles Dashaun Mallory and Jalen Hunt.
Behind them, senior Antjuan Simmons and junior Noah Harvey remained as the lone linebackers, with Chase Kline working as a backup. In the five-man secondary, Chris Jackson was a surprise starter at cornerback opposite fellow sophomore Kalon Gervin. Xavier Henderson returned at strong safety, with Tre Person taking over at free safety, and Shakur Brown emerged as the nickelback. Backups at safety included Michael Dowell and Tate Hallock, and at cornerback Dom Long and Davion Williams.
Walk-on sophomore Bryce Baringer got the nod at punter over UTEP grad transfer Mitchell Crawford. Baringer also served as holder on field goals for kicker Matt Coghlin, who split kickoff duties with Cole Hahn. Reed and Nailor were back on kickoff returns, with Nailor on punt returns.
Lesser roles
Some of the big surprises among the 75 players who dressed included those who were absent from the regular rotation.
Sophomore Julian Barnett, who started at wide receiver last season and moved to cornerback, played predominantly on special teams, as did freshman corner Angelo Grose. Backup linebacker Jeslord Boateng played sparingly as well.
On offense, it was the limited role of Collins that turned heads. Fellow RB Brandon Wright got just one carry and Anthony Williams did not see time despite dressing, with true freshman Jordon Simmons getting the bulk of the carries.
Lombardi was the only passer used, a bit of a surprise given backups Theo Day and Payton Thorne are completely untested aside from six snaps Day got last season. And though Gillison started at tight end , the bulk of the throws and snaps went to senior Matt Dotson. Sophomore Adam Berghorst also saw limited action.
One other surprise: After coaches talked up making punter/kicker Tyler Hunt a tight end, he did not dress. However, another specialist — Evan Morris — was in uniform and worked with the tight ends during warmups.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Making sense of Jayden Reed's explosive but error-tinged Michigan State debut
