After dropping two straight games, Michigan State will be missing several key players heading into Saturday’s matchup.
The Spartans (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) are set to face UCLA (1-4, 1-1) at noon on BTN, but they’ll do so without three starters on defense: defensive end Jalen Thompson, nickelback Ade Willie, and safety Nikai Martinez. Tight ends Brennan Parachek and Jayden Savoury, along with EDGE rusher Anelu Lafaele, were also listed as unavailable in the team’s pregame injury report.
Roughly an hour before kickoff, a Michigan State spokesperson confirmed that Lafaele will miss the rest of the season. The redshirt freshman, who transferred from Wisconsin, had recorded seven tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble prior to being injured in last week’s loss to Nebraska.
This marks the second consecutive game that both Willie and Martinez will be sidelined. Additional players unavailable for the game against UCLA—who had not previously been ruled out for the season—include offensive tackle Stanton Ramil, wide receiver Alante Brown, defensive back NiJhay Burt, linebacker Marcellius Pulliam, kicker Tarik Ahmetbasic, and long snapper Kaden Schickel.
Michigan State is coming off losses to USC (45-31) and Nebraska (38-27), while UCLA heads into the game with momentum after pulling off a 42-37 upset over then-No. 7 Penn State under interim head coach Tim Skipper.
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