The Spartans have battled through injury after injury and yet they are still undefeated — this is a team that battles through adversity.

Before the season began, senior linebacker Ed Davis was out with a season-ending knee injury.

MSU has lost four players in total for the season. Redshirt freshman cornerback Vayante Copeland went down with a fractured vertebrae against Oregon. Sophomore offensive lineman Dennis Finley broke both his tibia and fibula playing in place of injured junior tackles Jack Conklin and Kodi Kieler. Most recently, redshirt freshman cornerback Jalen Watts-Jackson suffered a fractured and dislocated hip as he was tackled into the endzone against University of Michigan.

“In regard to, I guess, injuries and things of that nature, you always have a plan — if so and so goes down, there is always a plan in place,” head coach Mark Dantonio said last week. “That’s why you work your two’s, that’s why you recruit other players, those type of things.

“I’ve said it all along, when things happen like this or like that, it should make your football team stronger in the long run, and that’s what we are always looking toward. Do we gain something from a loss? Yeah, we do, same thing. Whether it’s a player — losing a player or losing a football game, you have to gain something and you have to also gain from winning. We just deal with it. There is nothing you can do at certain times. You just deal with it.”

Dealing With It

The secondary is where the Spartans have taken the biggest hit. They lost a starter in Copeland, a guy who was close to working his way into the rotation, and a valuable special teams player in Watts-Jackson. Senior safety and starter RJ Williamson is out with a torn bicep until the Penn State game on Nov. 28 at the earliest, and junior cornerback Darian Hicks is out with a concussion.

Dantonio provided a few updates in regards to Hicks and Watts-Jackson.

“Jalen got back last night, yesterday afternoon,” Dantonio said. “So he was in the offices yesterday in the training room. The update is it’s all set. His hip has been repaired and it’s set. He has to stay off of it for three months. So it’s a long process. And then after that, he’ll be able to start rehabbing it. Right now (Hicks is) questionable for the game. Whether he practices or not, we’ll game plan if he doesn’t practice. So right now, he’s questionable.”

MSU is also without their senior All-American center and captain Jack Allen, who appeared to hurt his ankle against Rutgers.

However, it is not all bad news for the Spartans as Kieler and Conklin are both back. Kieler returned against Rutgers and looked as if he was playing hobbled, but he looked much better against U-M.

Conklin returned to the starting lineup against the Wolverines and looked good. If MSU can keep those two healthy and protect senior quarterback Connor Cook, you could see the Spartans begin to play up to their potential.

Moving Forward

On Oct. 13 MSU’s depth chart featured two possible starters at every position on the offensive line because of injuries.

This is why the Spartans have struggled to run the ball as of late and why they don’t appear to be letting Cook air it out.

Cook’s blindside was exposed with Kieler and Conklin out, but with three winnable games on the schedule next: Indiana (4-3 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) at home, at Nebraska (3-4 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) and against Maryland (2-4 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) at home, the Spartans should be able to be more diverse with their play calling.

MSU is favored to defeat Indiana and then comes a much needed bye week for the Spartans which should get them back Hicks, Allen and redshirt freshman running back Madre London.

The Spartans had a bad string of luck to start the season, but they appear to be getting healthy when it matters most.