On a defense that is full of new faces, there is one in particular who has been around East Lansing for a bit. Junior defensive end Jalen Thompson has been a consistent presence for the Spartans over the last three seasons and has now started 17 consecutive games for Michigan State.
A lot of the discourse during the offseason regarding this team revolved around whether or not Michigan State would be able to generate any consistent pass rush. Notably, there was a six-game stretch last season where the Spartans went without a sack. Thompson knows this isn’t good enough and last Friday night was the first opportunity to see the 2025 pass rush in action.
Versus Western Michigan, Michigan State created eight quarterback hurries and four sacks. The Spartan defense was making life difficult for Broncos quarterbacks Broc Lowry and Brady Jones. While this was a step in the right direction, Thompson believes the Spartans have more in them.
“Coach Rossi sat down with us and he said we did a great job,” said Thompson. “But I still feel like there was more in the tank. There were times we could have gotten home and we couldn't. It was a little execution where we should have ran the stunt a certain way but we didn't. But at the end of the day, it's all those things that fix it.”
For Thompson and Michigan State, there is no time like the present to correct those small things. Boston College comes to town on Saturday and these Golden Eagles bested the Spartans last year. Execution and details, especially in the pass rush, could be the difference between moving to 2-0 on the young season and falling to 1-1.
