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Michigan State improves in the Big Ten but loses a key running back to a season-ending injury
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RB Glenn Winston, 41, will miss the rest of the year
Call it karma, but the running back that spent much of the preseason in jail for fighting and seriously injuring a member of the Spartan hockey team will now spend the rest of his season on the sidelines with an injury.
Glenn Winston, whom I thought should not be allowed to play this year for his barbaric actions off the field last fall, has torn his ACL in his right knee and is out for the rest of the year. In my preseason article, I said that the young MSU running back should be punished for his actions rather than be rewarded with immediate playing time. During these first few games, Winston proved his was a talented player and it became harder and harder to wish to see him off the field (don't get me wrong, I still wanted him to be punished, but he gifted player was not making it easy).
This is the last thing I would wish to have happened. I'd rather Winston have paid his dept to his team and to the university itself and not to his body. Injuries as serious as a torn anterior cruciate ligament can have permanent lingering effect on players and I'd hate to think he might not be able to continue with his career. It would be the same if someone like me had permanently broke their hands and could somehow never write again. Odds are that Winston should be able to bounce back from the injury, but there's always that possibility that he might not.
So just when it looked like coach Mark Dantonio might have solved his RB dilemma with his slew of freshman running backs, one of his most talented will be done for the year. Dantonio still has some young, explosive talent in Larry Caper, whom I thought should have won the starting role over Caulton Ray since the start of the season. By continuing to have Caper and Ray split time and randomly tossing in senior A. J. Jimmerson in certain situations in the hopes that he might have some of that spark return that he showed under Javon Ringer, Dantonio's situation may not be hopeless just yet. Danotnio did have faith in Caper when he spoke this week,
"He's very mature for a young freshman," coach Mark
Another option, true freshman Edwin Baker, who has not played since the first week with a sore knee and was likely about to be redshirted, might start to see some playing time in that new rotation at running back.
"I think that's a decision we have to make sometime this week," Dantonio said.
Michigan State (3-3, 2-1 Big Ten) is also having some difficulty at the quarterback situation once again with Keith Nichol injuring his elbow during the game against Illinois and Kirk Cousins seemingly still hobbled by that leg injury he suffered against the Michigan Wolverines.
More on that tomorrow.
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