​Michigan State’s Jaziun Patterson, left, celebrates his touchdown with Trent Fraley during the fourth quarter against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co Being 2 & 0 feels great! There are still plenty of things to clean up, but I’m enjoying watching this Michigan State team figure out what it can be under fiery Pat Fitzgerald. Saturday gave us some frustrating stretches, some encouraging individual performances, and a finish that had the sideline fired up. Robbie and I had plenty to discuss on Sunday’s Red Cedar Rundown. Before getting into this week’s individual plays, I want to share a few things that stood out to me.Join the conversation!Sign up for a user account and get:Improved notifications system!Fewer adsCreate community postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community postsDownload the SB Nation app on iOS or Android.Defensively, holding Eastern Michigan to seven points and shutting them out in the second half deserves credit. That doesn’t mean the early third downs were any less frustrating to watch. Michigan State had opportunities to get off the field and instead allowed Noah Kim and the Eagles to extend possessions. Jordan Hall’s absence was one of my biggest questions coming into the game. With Dion Crawford stepping into a larger role, I want to take a closer look at the missed tackles and scrambling lanes that helped Eastern keep those drives alive, then see how Michigan State handled similar situations after halftime.There were also defenders who kept catching my eye for the right reasons. Devin Vaught’s tackling in space stood out, and Charles Brantley deserves some love for blowing up the pop pass along with a forced fumble and fumble recovery. If we’re going to point out the rough snaps, we should make room for the good ones. The same goes for the effort and awareness on special teams, where Chrishon McCray’s sideline return was one of those little moments that can make a difference in field position.On offense, I keep coming back to finding ways to make life easier for Alessio Milivojevic. My first impression was that he spent too long on his initial read at times, making it easier for underneath defenders to step into his throwing lane, leading to a few tipped balls and near interceptions. I liked the quick tempo around Fredrick Moore’s touchdown, and Cam Edwards’ work in protection deserves attention right alongside the throw and catch. I’d also like to see more of what this offense can do with play action and Alessio on the move. That isn’t a call to run hurry up on every possession or an assumption that Nick Sheridan is hiding half the playbook. I just see some things that looked promising and want to understand how they fit.Cam Fancher is another piece of that conversation. His appearances give us a chance to look at how the offense changes with a different quarterback and what the defense ha