Michigan State's Defense Continues to Excel Despite Injuries
Michigan State has had its fair share of injuries on both sides of the ball in the first few weeks of the season. However, the biggest deficit comes to the Spartans' defensive secondary with multiple starters out for significant time as a gauntlet schedule nears closer.
The Spartans pitched an impressive 40-0 shutout against Prairie View A&M last Saturday without several of their key defensive backs, holding the Panthers to just 140 yards of total offense and 4 of 11 on third down conversions. It was the first shutout for a Spartan defense since September, 2022.
In the first two weeks, losses to three starting defensive backs -- Chance Rucker, Dillon Tatum and Khalil Majeed -- did not seem to phase the Spartans against Prairie View. However, they will face a much tougher task for the remainder of the season.
Tatum and Majeed have been ruled out with “long-term” lower-body injuries, while Rucker will be sidelined six-to-eight weeks with an upper-body injury.
There will be a significant learning curve for the backups as competition heightens but the value of live repetitions in a tune up game against an FCS opponent benefitted significantly.
Junior DB Malik Spencer has played a major role in the secondary the past two games as his playing time increased due to injuries. Spencer has totaled 8 tackles in the past two weeks adding more physicality to the secondary.
It was assuring to see a few starting linebackers continuing their success as senior Jordan Turner made several impact plays tallying 7 tackles on the day. Fifth-year senior Cal Haladay also contributed with four tackles and his first sack of the season.
This upcoming matchup with Boston College will be a great challenge for the defense as they face a dual-threat quarterback in Thomas Castellanos who the Spartans will need to pick up in the secondary through the air and on the ground.
It has been a "next-man-up" mentality all year for this defense, and so far, Michigan State has risen to the challenge. Multiple backups will be tasked with shutting down a very crafty Boston College offense coming off a close loss to No. 6-ranked (now No. 7) Missouri.
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