Noah Kim, Nathan Carter Help Lead Michigan State Past Richmond, 45-14

Saturday, September 9

East Lansing, MI

3:30 PM

Michigan State University

2-0 , 0-0

Richmond

0-2 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Richmond

Michigan St.

Noah Kim, Nathan Carter Help Lead Michigan State Past Richmond, 45-14

9/9/2023 7:16:00 PM | Football

Box Score Post-Game Quotes Post-Game Notes Final Stats (PDF)

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State redshirt junior quarterback Noah Kim threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns and redshirt sophomore running back Nathan Carter ran for 111 yards and had three touchdowns as the Spartans cruised to a 45-14 win over Richmond on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

Kim finished the day 18-of-22 for 292 yards and closed the game with a school-record 15 straight completions. Graduate receiver Tre Mosley had five catches for 84 yards and an 11-yard scoring reception in the first quarter, while Kim threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to graduate tight end Tyneil Hopper in the second quarter and a 45-yard pass in the fourth quarter to redshirt freshman Antonio Gates Jr.

Carter had 19 carries for 111 yards and scored all three of MSU's third-quarter touchdowns on runs of 2 yards, 44 yards and 6 yards, respectively.

Senior defensive back Angelo Grose led Michigan State with seven tackles, while graduate linebacker Aaron Brule had five tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and a sack and redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay and senior linebacker Jacoby Windmon each had five tackles, with one for loss.

"I am proud of the way the team came out and performed," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "We did not take these guys lightly; I got to give Richmond a lot of credit, they are a winning program, they have a good program, and they have really good players. It's about us and our execution and discipline.

"We started fast on defense, not as fast on offense, but we were able to get it going. We have a lot of players who can make plays on offense, defense, and special teams; we just must continue to get better, learn from our mistakes and build on what we did well. We need to remain focused and get players back healthy. We're not going to have the 24-hour rule, we agreed to get the celebration over in the locker room – Washington is on the clock."

The Spartans took advantage of an early Richmond turnover to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, as the Spiders fumbled a punt, giving MSU great field position at the 19-yard line. Five plays later, Kim found Mosley in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

The Spiders drove their third series to the MSU 32-yard line, but they were stopped on fourth down, and the Spartans took the ensuing drive 69 yards on eight plays for their second touchdown of the day, a 13-yard TD pass from Kim to Hopper, at the 13:44 mark in the second quarter.

MSU took a 17-0 lead with 5:17 left in the half on Jonathan Kim's 52-yard field goal; it marked the longest field goal by a Spartan since Michael Geiger also hit a 52-yarder vs. Michigan in 2016.

Richmond missed a 32-yard field goal at the end of the first half to keep the score 17-0 into the break.

The Spartans scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the third quarter – all three on rushing TDs by Carter – to go up 38-0. He started the half with a 2-yard score, then scampered 43 yards down the sideline for his second TD of the game. Carter then hurdled a Spider defender on his way into the end zone for the third time of the quarter, this time from 6 yards out.

Richmond got on the board early in the fourth quarter as Aaron Banks returned a fumble 47 yards for a touchdown.

Kim threw his third touchdown pass of the game on a 45-yard reception to Gates at the 11:33 mark in the fourth quarter.

Michigan State returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 16 against Washington in Spartan Stadium at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed live on Peacock.