Michigan State football injury report: Who’s out vs. Youngstown State?

The Week 3 Michigan State football injury report is here. Which Spartans won’t be playing against Youngstown State?

Michigan State football (2-0) ends its non-conference slate with a contest against the Youngstown State Penguins. While this is not the toughest matchup for the Spartans, with the Penguins hailing from the FCS, it is still a chance to build momentum with MSU traveling to USC next week.

Additionally, it is a chance to glimpse at the overall health of the Spartans.

On Monday, Jonathan Smith’s injury update for the Spartans was that there were not any “long-term injuries” from last Saturday’s contest against the Boston College Eagles. However, that phrasing, combined with lingering issues to a few players, provides a situation to watch.

During the contest against BC, multiple Spartans left the contest with injury. Namely, Anelu Lafaele went to the locker room, and Jordan Hall, Wayne Matthews III, Malik Spencer, and Joshua Eaton all left the game with injury. All besides Eaton did return to the game, but with the adrenaline gone, their injury statuses may have changed.

Who’s out?

For the third consecutive week, sophomore defensive back Andrew Brinson IV is out for Saturday’s contest. There has been no public confirmation on the extent of Brinson’s injury, let alone where on the body (upper/lower) is.

Another defensive back that is out today is sophomore Caleb Gash. He is a player that could have had the chance to make his first defensive snaps today, but that will have to wait for the special teams’ menace. He left the Western Michigan game with injury, and was not seen on the sidelines last week, to my recollection.

Jalen Satchell, Kaden Schickel, and Tarik Ahmetbasic also all remain out for today’s contest.

The newest addition to the injury report is redshirt junior offensive tackle Ashton Lepo. The tackle has been a steady part of Michigan State football’s line rotation, splitting tackle reps with Conner Moore (swing tackle) and Stanton Ramil (left tackle). The Spartans will either play two tackles the whole contest or turn to a player like Rakeem Johnson, Charlton Luniewski, Rustin Young, or AJ Dennis, among players with game experience.

Leonard Ah You and Elisha West were also among those not dressing, but unlisted on the injury report.

Who’s in?

Senior defensive back Nikai Martinez has returned to the field. Martinez has been out all of fall camp after suffering an undisclosed injury, but was practicing with the team for some drills as early as week one. Now, Martinez has returned to action. Expect a limited snap count for him today as the Spartans ramp him up to game speed for next week’s contest against the Trojans.

Who’s been back?

Brennan Parachek and Martin Connington returned to action last week, and both remain off the injury report Saturday. Connington recorded his first seven points as a Spartan against the Eagles, hitting 50- and 39-yard field goals, alongside an extra point in the first overtime.

Parachek, meanwhile, recorded two snaps against the Eagles, with the tight end appearing to be co-TE3, alongside Jayden Savoury in pass situations, right now.

The only hope is that all players remain healthy and heal up with an FCS opponent on Saturday.