EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State listed the following players as “out” for Saturday’s game against Boston College: safety Nikai Martinez, cornerback Andrew Brinson, kicker Tarik Ahmetbasic, defensive back Caleb Gash, long snapper Kaden Schickel and defensive tackle Jalen Satchell.
The Spartans listed zero players as “questionable.”
Kicker Martin Connington and tight end Brennan Parachek were removed from this week’s list, meaning they will presumably be available for Michigan State against Boston College. Connington would provide some needed relief on special teams after walk-on Blake Sislo and punter Ryan Eckley split place-kicking duties last week against Western Michigan.
Parachek would add to Michigan State’s tight end depth. He could see time at the position alongside Jack Velling and Michael Masunas.
Like last week, Michigan State did not list offensive guard Luka Vincicon its availability report. Vincic did not play against Western Michigan due to a minor injury he sustained in the lead-up to the game. Jonathan Smithsaid on Monday that he’s optimistic Vincic will return against Boston College. Vincic’s exclusion from the availability report suggests that will be the case.
Gash is a new addition to the availability report. The redshirt sophomore walk-on made a couple of loud plays on kickoff coverage against Western Michigan, but will not play against the Eagles.
With Schickel out, true freshman Jack Wills will continue to long snap for Michigan State. Wills proved dependable against the Broncos.
Martinez will miss his second consecutive game while recovering from an upper body injury. Armorion Smithwill likely start alongside Malik Spenceragain on Saturday.
The Spartans are plenty deep at cornerback and tight end, so the losses of Brinson and Satchell should not be felt as significantly. Neither were projected by SpartanMag to start at their respective positions.
Josh Eaton, Chance Rucker, Aydan West and Malcolm Bell should again see considerable time at cornerback, while Alex VanSumeren, Grady Kelly, Ben Roberts and Ru’Quan Buckley are the names to watch at defensive tackle.
