The fall semester doesn’t begin until Aug. 26, but first-year players for the MSU football team already have plenty of homework.

“That’s a pretty big playbook. It’s about as big as a Bible,” freshman tailback David Richard said. “In high school you only have to know a couple plays that you run. But around here you have to know the protections, different pass plays and different run plays.

“We’ve all been studying a lot.”

Knowing the adjustment from high school to college football would take time, Spartan head coach Bobby Williams wasted no time. At the first team meeting he handed out the playbook, which would qualify as one one of the largest textbooks on campus.

And by the time Tuesday’s practice had ended, Williams described his 36 new players as “confused.”

“We put it all in right off the bat. We see if they can take it from the classroom to the field,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “I saw some good things today - a lot of spirit, a lot of enthusiasm.”

The new faces will be asked to do a lot on both sides of the ball for the Spartans this season. But it’s on offense where they’ll be expected to contribute the most.

With the early departure of tailback T.J. Duckett to the NFL and graduations of wide receiver Herb Haygood and tight end Chris Baker, the offense is in need of playmakers.

Senior Dawan Moss, a converted fullback, is expected to carry the rushing load early. But Richard and fellow freshmen Jaren Hayes, Jerramy Scott and Jason Teague could all see playing time.

“Coming out of today’s practice, I was very pleased with all four of them,” Williams said. “Right now it’s hard to say who’s got the edge. But I think there will be some separation as we go.”

Standing 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Richard reminds many of Duckett and has an advantage in size. But Williams made it clear he’s looking for both size and the speed that can break games open.

Richard is confident, and fully expects playing time, but his No. 1 goal is to make sure the running game doesn’t become a weakness.

“A lot of players have been pulling me aside and telling me they’re going to be dependent on me a lot this year,” he said. “And I’m ready for it, I don’t feel pressured at all.

“With T.J. being gone I don’t want people to say we lost because of the running game or because the running backs didn’t produce. I just want to make sure things stay the same.”

But Richard isn’t naive, he knows the Spartans’ running game has plenty of critics.

“I’ve been reading a bunch of stuff about how people don’t think we’ll have much of a running game. I had them posted up in my room back home,” he said. “That motivates me a lot. They don’t really know what we have.”

If the running game doesn’t drop off from last season, in which it averaged 151.6 yards per game, then junior wide receiver Charles Rogers can continue to plague defenses.

Of course, who lines up next to Rogers still is in question. Haygood’s dependability is gone and BJ Lovett failed to impress last season with just 10 catches.

That opens the door for three talented freshman - 6-1, 195-pounder Kyle Brown, 5-10, 185-pounder Agim Shabaj and 6-7, 210-pounder Matt Trannon.

Brown is recovering from a knee injury sustained during his senior season at West Bloomfield and Trannon reminds many of Plaxico Burress with his size, but it’s Shabaj who seems to have the early edge.

“We have a lot of good receivers this year. We’ve got speed, we’ve got height and we’ve got quickness,” Shabaj said. “There’s a lot of competition out there.”

Shabaj admits a starting position is on his mind, but he said that’s not his decision.

“Yeah, that’s in the back of everyone’s mind who’s coming in this year,” he said. “The coach has kind of been talking about that, but the best player plays right now.

“Everyone looks real good right now, but camp decides who plays.”

One position that is sure to see a new face is punter, which lost four-year starter Craig Jarrett to graduation. Competing for the job will be juco-transfer Jason Daily (College of the Canyons, San Luis Obispo, CA), freshman Brandon Fields and walk-on Anthoney Belasco.

Williams said the freshmen are already behind the rest of the team from a conditioning standpoint. But he said healthy contribution will still be expected this season.

“We’re going to look at some of the freshman to see if they can be legitimate backups or be ready to step in there and play,” Williams said.