Saturday's game against Youngstown State yielded a handful of key injuries for Jonathan Smith and Michigan State. The second-year head coach was pleased to end up with a win, but wasn't happy with how his team played defensively nor the injuries that piled up against an FCS foe.
Michigan State still found a way to win, 41-24, but the Spartans didn't do so without losing a handful of key bodies heading into Big Ten play against USC next week.
The Spartans lost Nick Marsh, Makhi Frazier, Alante Brown, and Luka Vincic on Saturday afternoon. Conner Moore also went down, but his injury wasn't addressed in the post-game presser by Smith, so it must not be that serious.
The other four, however, were addressed by Smith, and three of them were positive updates.
Jonathan Smith: "As a coach, we went pretty good on Tuesday, Wednesday this week. These guys went to work this week. All three of those guys, we are not anticipating long term (Brown, Frazier, Marsh). Luka, we'll see on that one."
— Emmett Matasovsky (@E_Matasovsky57) September 13, 2025
Let's start with the first injury of the game, and that was to Brown who went down during warmups and never saw the field despite being the honorary captain. Seeing him on an injury report is nothing new for Spartan fans, but fortunately it sounds like he'll be back sooner rather than later. He'll be a key member of special teams this season.
Marsh and Vincic were next to suffer injuries. Marsh was held out in what looked like a precautionary manner, and I'd be shocked if he missed the USC game. He was a beast on Saturday with six catches for 94 yards. And Vincic was carted off at halftime, and it sounds like he may be more of a long-term injury, which is unfortunate because he was playing well.
Lastly, Frazier went down later in the game, and Smith alluded to him also being a short-term injury which, to me, means he's thinking he could suit up against USC.
The Spartans should get three guys back soon (this week?) while Vincic might be on the mend for a bit. Mostly good news, but you have to feel for Vincic who finally got to see the field.