When the 2023-2024 Spartans exited the field for the final time in Detroit after a 42-0 drubbing to Penn State on rivalry weekend, worn from the season, the fear of an unknown future set in.

Coaching moves were quickly made. Players transferred in and out of the program. On the other side of its disastrous fall, MSU football emerged as a team with something to build on: a developmental head coach aligned with program values in Jonathan Smith, a young and talented quarterback in Aidan Chiles and a revamped culture.

Three games into the 2024 season, MSU is undefeated, with a road game at Boston College Saturday marking its first matchup against a ranked opponent. After seasons of setback, MSU football is on its way back to being a contender in any game it plays.  

After Tucker's firing, the 2023 MSU football team had less and less to play for every game en route to a 4-8 finish. Throughout the season, Michigan State was outscored 170-10 against ranked teams.

After practice Wednesday, senior linebacker Sam Edwards remembered a few of the first words Smith spoke to the team after arriving in East Lansing: "The more connected we are, the more committed we'll become."

"It's impressive how far we've been able to come towards that goal with how many new faces we've got," Edwards said.

Just two years prior, MSU football was competing with the best teams in the country. While unknown to Spartan fans at the time, the 2021 Cal Haladay pick six to win the Peach Bowl and finish 11-2 would be the final shred of contending football they saw MSU play under Tucker.

The Spartans underperformed in 2022, finishing 5-7 with NFL talent scattered around the offense. Then came the 2023 season.

Just ten months after MSU walked out of Ford Field with its second straight losing record, a new trajectory has unfolded for the program, one filled with hope for a bright future.  

“We're headed in the right direction,” Edwards said. “And that's meant a lot to me, to be able to be a part of the start of this.”

Just three games in, Smith and company have brought the football spirit back to East Lansing. Mistakes have been made game in and game out, primarily penalties and turnovers, but the Spartans have found ways to win. With each passing game, they've found ways to improve. 

“We seem to be clicking a little better,” Edwards said. “We're still working on it. We're still, like we talked about, racing to improve, work that execution with the details and just always keeping that effort a constant factor along with playing hard.” 

MSU's first win was a shaky, 16-10 survival of Florida Atlantic. Then came a gritty, 27-24 Big Ten road victory over a recently solid Maryland team. Last Saturday, fans saw a predictable, yet important MSU 40-0 victory against Prairie View A&M at home. 

Outside expectations for team have grown. Inside the building, MSU is feeling confident.

“I don’t think the expectations have changed much,” Smith said, “but I do think there's confidence that comes with having success. I think we’ve learned that, yeah, we have an opportunity to play at a high level. I’m not gonna lie, there’s an energy when you win games that definitely helps the building.” 

Now 3-0 entering a major road game under the lights, MSU has the chance to continue its winning streak with an upset of Boston College.

Michigan State will look to be 4-0 for the first time since 2021, against a similarly built program. The 2-1 Eagles have already beaten one top ten team and kept close distance to another, making Saturday the biggest test for MSU thus far.  

The game in Chestnut Hill, MA starts a scheduling gauntlet for the Spartans: Ohio State, Oregon, Iowa and the University of Michigan are all slated to follow. MSU went 0-4 against those teams last year.