Michigan State’s night against Nebraska turned into something bigger than a loss. It became a survival test.
What started as a competitive Big Ten matchup unraveled fast for the Spartans, who were forced to keep going without a long list of key players. By the final whistle, Michigan State had lost four starters between warmups and game’s end, and the damage stretched across both sides of the ball.
The first blow hit before kickoff. Starting cornerback Tre Bell went down during warmups, even though he wasn’t on either availability report and had been going through pregame work.
Soon after, he was on the sideline in sweatpants, unable to suit up. That was already a rough break for a secondary that had to play without backup cornerback Tyran Chappell, who had been ruled out before the game.
With two corners already unavailable, the Spartans were scrambling before the ball was even kicked.
Then the game itself started taking pieces away.
On one especially costly play, Michigan State lost two important offensive players at once. Running back Cam Edwards, the transfer addition who arrived after back-to-back top-10 rushing seasons at UConn, had opened the year strong.
He led the Big Ten in rushing yards through the first two games and had been looking for another statement performance after Notre Dame slowed him down. Against Nebraska, he flashed that upside again, including a 21-yard catch.
But that reception ended with a low tackle near his right knee, and Edwards was left in visible pain on the field. The injury appeared to involve a hyperextension of the knee, and he was eventually taken off on a stretcher.
Edwards later returned to the sideline on crutches with his knee immobilized, but he did not return to the game.
That same sequence also knocked out starting offensive lineman Connor Moore, one of the few returning starters on Michigan State’s offensive line. Moore went into the medical tent and did not come back, reportedly dealing with a back injury.
The defense took its own hit not long after. Jordan Hall, a major presence for the Spartans and the team’s defensive leader, exited with a leg injury.
Hall had put up 13 tackles against Notre Dame, and his return to the field just 13 months after ACL surgery had been one of the defense’s notable storylines. On Saturday, that comeback took a painful turn when he was carted off.
With Brady Pretzlaff already out, Hall’s injury left Michigan State without its top two linebackers.
By night’s end, the injury list was staggering: the Spartans were missing their top four linebackers, four of their top five cornerbacks, a starting offensive lineman and their starting running back. For a team still trying to build itself under head coach Pat Fitzgerald, that’s a massive hit in one game.
The injuries don’t explain everything Michigan State has to clean up. But they absolutely shape the picture of what happened against Nebraska. And they leave the Spartans staring at another tough assignment next, a Wisconsin team that is coming off an upset win over Penn State.
The old “next man up” line has rarely felt more literal in East Lansing.
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