Brady Pretzlaff headlines Michigan State's first injury report of the season

As promised, Pat Fitzgerald released the first Michigan State availability report of the season before the Spartans' Big Ten opener.

Unfortunately, it bears some bad news.

There are only six Spartans listed as "out" in the first injury report of the year, but one of them happens to be Jordan Hall's right-hand man. Brady Pretzlaff is going to miss at least a game after leaving the Notre Dame contest with an injury.

That's a tough blow because we saw just how poorly the Spartans tackled the last time Hall and Pretzlaff weren't out there at the same time.

Here's who else is out against Nebraska:

No fullback, down some young offensive line depth, and down a starting linebacker, Michigan State is going to need the "next man up" mentality that Pat Fitzgerald talks about every week.

KK Smith would be a disappointing loss because the receiver room could use a boost with really only a couple of guys stepping up through three weeks. Tyran Chappell, too, would be a tough loss because the defensive backfield has been bending but not breaking recently. It feels like they're gaining maybe a sliver of confidence -- but they're still trending in the right direction.

Although the Spartans are down six players, led by their starting linebacker, Nebraska is also going to be down seven guys. Neither side is at full-strength which is pretty much the status quo for Week 4 of any college football season. Let's just hope that no one else gets added to this list before or after Saturday's Big Ten opener.

Michigan State's linebacker depth is going to be tested early

We're not even a full month into the season and Michigan State's already-thin linebacker room is getting even thinner with the absence of Pretzlaff coming a week after Hall was out.

The Spartans are going to need some newcomers to step up as well as some of those young, talented guys that we all hear so much about. Guys like DeJae White, Adam Shaw, and DiMari Malone are going to potentially see opportunities against Nebraska while Caleb Wheatland, Cam Stodhill, and Dion Crawford have to also be ready to step in.

It's going to be "next man up" mentality all day on Saturday in the event that Hall needs a breather on top of Pretzlaff being out. Hall has been banged up quite a bit through three weeks and he's going to need some plays off so we'll see plenty of different combinations out there for Max Bullough's group.

While being down anyone, let alone the leader of the defense, is never good, this is going to be a chance for Michigan State to develop some trustworthy depth pieces in case this happens again later this season.

Let's just hope Pretzlaff isn't out for an extended period of time because the defense needs him and Hall healthy at the same time to really reach its full potential.

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