When you face a team like Youngstown State right before conference play, the hope is that you gain some confidence on both sides of the ball and everyone stays healthy. Unfortunately for Michigan State football, that wasn't the case.
The Spartans struggled mightily on defense, and there's a ton of concern heading into a Week 4 showdown with the nation's No. 2 scoring offense on the road.
Oh, and they suffered a few key injuries that will hurt the team for an extended period.
While Nick Marsh and Makhi Frazier went down with injuries, Smith is expecting them to return sooner rather than later, but he gave an unfortunate injury update on Monday regarding a key offensive lineman. Luka Vincic may very well miss the rest of the season.
Jonathan Smith confirms that starting offensive guard Luka Vincic has "a long term injury. "Probably won't see him the rest of the year."
— Jim Comparoni (@JimComparoni) September 15, 2025
Smith didn't exactly mince words here. He said that Vincic has a "long-term injury" and that we probably won't see him for the rest of the season. That's about as concrete of a season-ending injury as you can get. And Smith won't usually say something like this unless he knows it to be certain.
Vincic would be a big loss on the interior of the offensive line, especially after watching him pave the way for a touchdown in the first half of Saturday's game against Youngstown by making three key blocks. He made an athletic offensive play that we don't often see.
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until next year to watch him grow more as a starter.
It's been a long, winding row for Vincic during his college career, and it appeared that he was finally healthy and ready to contribute. Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery.