Michigan State Loses Another Player for Extended Period of Time
Michigan State has gotten off to a 2-0 start to Coach Jonathan Smith’s first season in East Lansing after two close victories.
The Spartans edged out Florida Atlantic in their home opener and followed that up with an upset road win over Maryland this past weekend. Michigan State is on pace to finish the season better than most people expected heading into the season.
However, Michigan State’s road to an undefeated start has not been without its fair share of issues. Not only have the Spartans displayed a need for improvement in many areas, but they have also had numerous injuries to their defensive backfield over the first two weeks of the season.
Smith and Michigan State lost safeties Dillon Tatum and Khalil Majeed during the season's first game. Smith announced on Monday that the team will also be without sophomore cornerback Chance Rucker. The talented cornerback suffered an upper-body injury in the Spartans’ win over Maryland and will likely miss about a month or two.
Michigan State will likely be able to win its next game, a home matchup against Prarie View A&M, despite the injuries to the team’s defensive backfield. However, those injuries will undoubtedly play a role in the Spartans’ future games against significantly more formidable opponents starting the following week.
After their home game against Prarie View, the Spartans play Boston College, Ohio State and Oregon in consecutive weeks. Each of those teams is ranked among the Top 25 in the country. Smith and his coaching staff have prided themselves on their ability to develop players and will now get the chance to coach up players who are a little further down on the depth chart.
Smith has started fast in his first season at the helm in East Lansing and is another upset win or two away from having an undeniably successful first season at Michigan State. Smith and the Spartans will do their best to make it through a challenging stretch of upcoming games without a few of their best players.
However, considering who the Spartans will face over the next few weeks, that will undoubtedly be a tall task.
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EZEKIEL TREZEVANT
Ezekiel is a former Sports Editor from the Western Herald and former Atlanta Falcons beat writer.