Michigan State football winners & losers: LB Jordan Turner leads injury-ravaged Spartans

Posted by Admin November 25, 2024 Football

EAST LANSING — Free Prss sports writer Chris Solari breaks down the Michigan State football players who helped or hurt their stock in the Spartans’ 24-17 win Friday over Purdue.

Winners

LB Jordan Turner

The three tackles the senior Wisconsin transfer made might not look like much on paper, but Turner’s diving interception with the Boilermakers driving for a potential tying score midway through the fourth quarter proved a pivotal moment. Turner also had two QB hurries, including one on Purdue’s last ditch offensive play to force an incomplete pass and turnover on downs. But his biggest boost has been leadership as one of the Spartans’ captains, keeping the injury-ravaged defense steady and capable of flushing any bad plays and focusing on the future.

QB Aidan Chiles

For the second straight week, Chiles played turnover-free football despite having a near miss — this time an interception that was ruled Purdue pass interference before the pick. Outside of that, the sophomore continued the progress he showed a week earlier at Illinois, going 15-for-31 for 159 passing yards with two TDs and no interceptions, though almost all of it came in the first half. He also continued to evade pressure and added 26 rushing yards despite getting sacked twice.

RB Kay’ron Lynch-Adams

The sixth-year senior, a Massachusetts transfer, is closing out his one-year stay at MSU in strong fashion. Lynch-Adams received his busiest workload of the season, carrying 18 times for 88 yards and adding three catches for 18 more yards. The Warren, Ohio, native enters his final game Saturday at Spartan Stadium against Rutgers leading MSU with both 580 yards rushing on 124 carries, which includes a pair of touchdowns.

Losers

Defensive backs

The effect of the bevy of injuries in MSU’s defensive backfield — three early starters and four other key reserves sat out Friday — was felt mightily in the second half Friday. Purdue opened its passing attack, with QB Hudson Card throwing for 201 yards to get the Boilermakers back into the game. That included a 17-yard completion on a fourth-and-5 in front of freshman safety Jaylen Thompson to set up one touchdown and 38-yard completion on third-and-21 between Thompson and backup cornerback Ade Willie, both of whom were pressed into duty with Malik Spencer and Charles Brantley out. And the secondary was bailed out with a drop by wide-open Jahmal Edrine on a deep pass, which would have pulled Purdue into a tie on its last possession.

TE Jack Velling

An undisclosed injury landed Velling in the hospital after appearing to be a much bigger part of MSU’s offensive plans against Purdue than he was at Illinois. The junior caught an 11-yard pass midway through the first quarter from fellow Oregon State transfer Chiles on a sit-down route against the zone, and the QB went right back to him down the right seam on the next play. But Chiles later said he hung Velling out with the throw, and he got knocked out of the game with a significant injury suffered on a big hit to his lower back/rib cage area. Velling has 31 catches for 334 yards on the season without a touchdown. His availability moving forward remains unclear.

WR Jaron Glover

In and out of the lineup all season with injuries, Glover went without a target for the second straight game as Chiles zeroed in on Montorie Foster Jr., Nick Marsh (nine targets each) and his tight ends (seven combined targets) and running backs (six targets). Glover’s durability remains in question, but redshirt freshman Azaiah Johnson’s emergence in recent weeks also has cut into his snaps along with the injuries.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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