Penn State versus Michigan State - Injury Report
Penn State is seeking to finish off a solid regular season on Saturday as it welcomes Michigan State to Beaver Stadium.
The Nittany Lions have rattled off three straight convincing wins after their loss to Ohio State and are seeking a 10 win season for just the fourth time in James Franklin’s tenure.
As both teams get set to play their regular season finales, there will be multiple players who can’t go due to a number of reasons.
Here is who could be in or out on Saturday for Penn State and Michigan State.
Penn State
Penn State has been dealing with a number of injuries on the offensive side of the ball for multiple weeks, but now will be without one of its best overall players for the final game of the regular season.
James Franklin announced that Parker Washington will miss the rest of the year for the Nittany including their bowl game due to an undisclosed injury.
Washington missed last week’s game against Rutgers and may have played his final game in a Penn State uniform as he’ll be eligible for the NFL Draft this spring.
The offensive line issues have somewhat subsided for Penn State following Landon Tengwall’s season ending injury.
Franklin says that the team is still hoping to get left tackle Olu Fashanu back this season whether that is on Saturday or in the bowl game.
Caedan Wallace did not play against Rutgers last weekend but made the trip to New Jersey with the team, indicating a potential return for the right tackle sooner rather than later.
On the other side of the ball, Penn State is still without one of its impact players as Joey Porter Jr. recovers from appendicitis.
Like Fashanu, Franklin expects Porter Jr. to be back at some point whether that is this weekend or in a bowl game, but his draft status could affect that considering his potential to be taken in the first round
The Nittany Lions got their linebackers back last weekend as Curtis Jacobs returned after missing multiple games with an injury, so that group is back to full strength heading into the final game of the regular season
Michigan State
Michigan State’s availability problems have been well documented over the past couple weeks as they are missing a number of normal starters which has even caused the team to eliminate hitting in practice.
The Spartans have eight defensive players suspended due to an incident against Michigan in the tunnel following their loss a few weeks ago and they will be out once again in the season finale.
Five of those eight players started at least one game for Michigan State this season with Jacoby Windman and Angelo Grose starting every game prior to their suspension.
Aside from those eight players, the injury bug has struck the Spartans as well with a number of usual starters out for Mel Tucker.
Left tackle Jarrett Horst and right guard Matt Carrick did not suit up in last week’s loss against Indiana with backup guard Brian Greene also out.
This leaves Michigan State with major depth issues up front and with Penn State’s solid front-seven play up to this point, this could become a major factor as the game plays out.
Starting tight end Tyler Hunt has also been out with an injury to add to the number of missing starters on offense.
The injuries on the defensive side aren’t much better for the Spartans.
In addition to the suspensions, defensive ends Jeff Pietrowski and Khris Bogle remain out and cornerback Ronald WIlliams is injured as well.
Even the Michigan State special teams have been affected as long snapper Hank Pepper will likely miss the final regular season game.
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