EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Michigan State’s football coach Mel Tucker believes a team makes the most improvement in a season from week one to week two, which puts a lot of pressure on wide receiver Tyrell Henry.

In the Spartans’ season-opening win over Central Michigan, Henry made Spartan Stadium erupt when he made a one-handed touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

The sophomore’s first career collegiate catch landed him at No. 3 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays.

“That’s like something you dream about,” Henry said. “It’s not something that you think that your first catch will be, but I’m grateful for it and took it with open arms.”

Henry played as a true freshman in 2022 but spent most of his time returning kicks instead of catching passes and didn’t realize until after the game, he made his first catch of his career.

“I’m like, ‘Oh wow. It was my first catch,'” Henry said. “I was more focused on the game and just, you know, the task at hand really than the catch.”

Henry wore No. 11 during his freshman season and switched to No. 2 this season. He made the change to honor the ‘only two women in his life.’

“I wear it for my mom and my sister,” Henry said. “My mom, she raised us by herself, so I think that she’s like the strongest woman I know. And my little sister, she’s 13 right now. She beat cancer.”

When Henry was nine years old, his younger sister, Tamaurra, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was three months old and beat it by the time she was four.

“That pushed me a lot because my mom; she was always at the hospital with her,” Henry said. “When I was younger, I didn’t know as much, but I figured out growing up that football could be a way out, a way to help them out.”