Michigan State football released its weekly availability report on Saturday afternoon, just hours ahead of a Big Ten battle in Bloomington against No. 3 Indiana.
The Hoosiers look like the best team in the country while the Spartans may just be the worst team in the Big Ten over the past month. Saturday could get ugly, especially when you consider just how many players the Spartans will be down compared to the Hoosiers.
In fact, the availability report features 15 Spartans who are either out for the game or out for the season, and there’s been an addition to the latter category.
According to the report, Ashton Lepo has now been ruled out for the season.
The veteran offensive lineman has played in four games this season, starting the past two against UCLA and Nebraska. He didn’t start against Western Michigan or Boston College, but he played in those as well, missing the USC and Youngstown State games.
With the injury to Lepo, that means the Spartans are down two offensive linemen with starting experience for the year. He joins Oregon State transfer Luka Vincic.
As for Saturday’s game at Indiana, the Spartans are down four key offensive linemen. Obviously the two starters mentioned above as well as Stanton Ramil and Kristian Phillips. The Spartans are going to be extremely light on the offensive lineman, and that’s a recipe for disaster, considering the line has already struggled mightily this year.
In today’s college football, a season-ending injury could mean that’s the last time we see a certain player in that uniform. It’s possible that Lepo looks for a new home next year, especially if the staff is gone.
That’s obviously all speculation, though.