Is A.J. Hoggard key to Spartans’ resurgence?

Things feel a little more upbeat around Michigan State these days.

The Spartans have won two Big Ten games in a row, highlighted by the win over No. 15 Rutgers on Tuesday, and seem to have rebounded quite well from the early three-game skid that opened conference play

And in this week’s Michigan State mailbag, the optimism shows. That doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t some concerns. We do our best to tackle ongoing questions about the rotation while determining how good freshman point guard A.J. Hoggard can be and if Michigan State’s recent defensive revival is a sign it has started to figure things out on that end of the court.

We fit in one football question, too, as the transfer portal continues to grow.

Michigan State's Joshua Langford is averaging 8.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

Question. Is a healthy (Joshua) Langford comparable to 99-00 Charlie Bell? — @SpartyFletch

Answer. His numbers will need to pick up a touch to get to the point Bell was at by the end of that season, especially in the rebounding category where Langford is averaging only 2.2 a game while Bell averaged five per game. Langford, at least at this point, also isn’t the defender Bell was, though if he gets closer to his pre-injury level he could be as good of a perimeter presence as Bell. And, of course, Langford doesn’t have the crew Bell did on that national championship team. But in terms of being that third guy, someone who needs to score 10 or 12 points a game and play solid defense, I think Langford needs to fill that role.