Michigan State Opponent Loses Critical Player During Fall Camp

Michigan State has one of the most challenging schedules in the Big Ten this season. One of its opponents recently lost one of its most critical players.

Michigan State's Keon Coleman, left, runs after a catch as Indiana's Tiawan Mullen closes in during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. 221119 Msu Indiana 156a / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Michigan State enters its first season under Coach Jonathan Smith.

His first offseason in East Lansing was filled with many hurdles he and Michigan State were forced to overcome. After replinishing much of the talent they lost to the transfer portal earlier this offseason, Michigan State is just weeks away from taking the field for the first time this upcoming season in a home matchup against Florida Atlantic.

After spending most of the offseason working on roster issues, Coach Smith is now in the third week of the team’s fall camp. Michigan State has one of the most difficult schedules in the country this season and many college football experts have the Spartans ranked as one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. 

Still, there are multiple Big Ten teams on Michigan State’s schedule that may or may not be worse than the Spartans. Those teams include Illinois, Indiana and Rutgers, each of whom Michigan State plays late in the season. While Michigan State does have a challenging schedule, there are still enough winnable games on its schedule for it to reach a bowl game in Coach Smith’s first season in East Lansing. 

However, the Spartans will undoubtedly need all the help it can get. While injuries are not rooted for, they do play a significant part of teams’ wins and losses. Michigan State has a chance to not only win six games and play in a bowl game, they also have the chance to move up the Big Ten ranks, if they do well over the final four games of the season. 

One of the teams Michigan State will face over that span is Indiana, which recently lost one of the most critical players on their roster. According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Indiana lost offensive guard Nick Kidwell. Thamel announced the injury on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Indiana’s Nick Kidwell, the projected starter at right guard, will miss the 2024 season with a knee injury,” Thamel said. “He’d started 34 games at James Madison prior to transferring to IU and projected to be a linchpin on Indiana’s offensive line.”

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