It didn’t take long for Michigan State’s bad injury luck to continue against UCLA as two more key starters went down with game-ending injuries.
The first was Marvis Parrish who looked to have injured his leg on a first down run where he was pushed past the line and got rolled up on and the second was arguably more devastating as the defense’s best player, Ben Roberts, had his ankled tweaked while engaged with a UCLA offensive lineman.
Parrish was ruled out shortly after his injury and Roberts was carted off the field with a towel draped over his face a few minutes later.
Michigan State is now down two more starters on the road against a top-10 team with a true freshman starting at quarterback. The Spartans were already missing several starters in Alessio Milivojevic, Jordan Hall, Tre Bell, Jaz Patterson, and Charles Brantley
The team was already short-handed heading into Saturday’s game against the 6-0 Bruins but now they’re even thinner on both sides of the ball with a starting running back and the team’s best defender out.
Parrish took over for Patterson — who was ruled out earlier this week — who replaced Cam Edwards who was ruled out for the season. The Spartans are now on RB3.
As for the Roberts injury, that could mean more Derrick Simmons moving forward.
Who’s going to replace Michigan State’s injured starters?
With Parrish going down, Michigan State has had to rely on its third-string back who’s apparently Kenneth Williams, the team’s primary kick returner. He is a more shifty back with not as much power as Parrish, Edwards, or Patterson so it’ll be important for Nick Sheridan to get him out into space.
Brandon Tullis is also available if Pat Fitzgerald wants to go with a veteran with some experience and more power to his game.
As for Roberts’ replacement, I’d have to go with Simmons who was a promising freshman and got some hype heading into the season but has yet to really get his opportunity. This devastating (ankle?) injury to Roberts may open the door with that. Sophomore Mikeshun Beeler is also a good option with a little more experience under his belt.
It’s going to be “next man up” like Fitzgerald always says, but Michigan State is running low on next men up.
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