Michigan State’s injury report keeps getting longer coming out of the bye week, as 13 players are out for the Michigan game.
The Michigan State Spartans came into the bye week with a goal of resting up and getting healthy, as they had just been decimated by injuries all season long. After the bye week, they have rival Michigan coming up this Saturday as they prepare for arguably the biggest game of the season. A win over a struggling Michigan team could completely save Pat Fitzgerald’s first season and course correct the Spartans' trajectory with a remaining schedule that does not seem so difficult. Well, the initial availability report was released for the Spartans following the bye week, and somehow it looks even worse.
Michigan State is going to be out 13 players against Michigan and has a total of 18 players on the availability report. The 13 players out for the Spartans are running backs Cam Edwards, Jaziun Patterson, and Marvis Parrish; quarterback Cam Fancher; cornerbacks Tre Bell and Charles Brantley; linebacker Jordan Hall; safety Brayden Thomas; tight ends Jayden Savoury and Joe Caudill; fullback Jay Coyne; defensive lineman Ben Roberts; and offensive lineman Tristan Comer.
The list of injured players for this week got even longer after the bye week. The Spartans being without their top three running backs is a huge blow to the offensive gameplan. Patterson had been playing well as the running back one since Cam Edwards went down, and he will now have missed the past two games due to injury. Marvis Parrish was going to step into that role after the UCLA game but left early in the game due to an injury. Now both of them will still be out after the bye week for the game against the Wolverines.
There are five additional players who are questionable for the game on the initial availability report. Those players are safety Devin Vaught, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, wide receiver Charles Taplin, and cornerbacks Keshawn Williams and Tyran Chappell.
Milivojevic was a last-second addition to the report right before the UCLA game, and after the bye he remains questionable for the trip to Ann Arbor. This week for MSU seems like a game where, if a player is questionable, then they are going to do everything in their power to play. This game against Michigan could turn the season around if they beat their rivals and look ahead at a schedule that is not as tough as it once seemed. Even with all these key players out on the report, if Alessio Milivojevic can play in this game, they will stand a chance.
It is a shame that this Spartans team has not been seen at full strength since Week One, as they could have added a few more wins on the season. Michigan State came out of the bye week somehow even more injured than before, but as long as Milivojevic can make a push to play, they can stand a chance. The Spartans' defense can hold a struggling Wolverines offense for enough time to keep them in the game. The injuries will not help, but it is something Michigan State has dealt with all season and will have to learn to win one of these games with everything going against them.