East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State, aiming to strike gold at in the transfer portal at the running back position for a second straight year, has accepted a transfer commitment from former Wisconsin tailback Jalen Berger.
Berger was listed this season as a 6-foot, 203-pound freshman for the Badgers. He had 24 carries for 88 yards for the Badgers this fall. He played in only three games before being dismissed from the team on Oct. 10 for unspecified reasons. He had been slipping down in the depth chart prior to the dismissal.
In entering the transfer portal with only three games played, he preserved a year of eligibility as a redshirt for 2021.
Berger averaged 3.7 yards per carry this season. His longest gain in 24 attempts was good for eight yards. He didn’t play in the season opener against Penn State while Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi and Isaac Guerendo carried the workload.
After the game, when asked about Berger’s lack of carries in the opener, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst said Berger had a “good approach,” and added, “just because he didn’t play doesn’t mean he’s doing something wrong.”
Berger followed up with 62 yards on 15 carries against Eastern Michigan but he had only nine total carries in Wisconsin’s next three games.
He had one carry for 8 yards against Notre Dame and eight carries for 18 yards against Michigan.
Michigan State has staff members who were familiar with Berger at Wisconsin. Saeed Khalif, MSU’s Director of Player Personnel, served in the same capacity at Wisconsin from 2017-2020.
Khalif plays a major role in mapping out roster management, portal acquisitions and recruiting strategies for Michigan State.
Jensen Gebhardt, the Spartans’ Player Personnel Coordinator, works as Khalif’s assistant at Michigan State and served in the same capacity for Khalif at Wisconsin.
Gebhardt and Khalif obviously have first-hand experience in working with Berger at Wisconsin and were instrumental in kicking off the scouting of him in the portal and his re-recruitment.
In 2020, Berger played in four games and started one game for the Badgers. He led Wisconsin in rushing during the COVID-shortened season with 301 yards rushing. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry. He missed three games last year due to injury.
He rushed for at least 87 yards in three of his four games in 2020, including 93 yards against Northwestern. He scored touchdowns against Michigan and Wake Forest.
The 2020 season won’t count against Berger’s eligibility clock, due to the NCAA’s blanket waiver for the year. Berger technically has four years of eligibility remaining.
Berger visited Michigan State during the weekend of Nov. 12-13. He attended the Michigan State vs Western Michigan basketball game and the Michigan State vs Maryland football game.
Berger was a four-star recruit, ranked the No. 87 player in the country when he came out of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. in 2020. Berger, a native of Newark, N.J., was ranked the No. 5 running back in the country by Rivals.com, and the No. 2 player in New Jersey.
Last year, Michigan State gained running backs Kenneth Walker III and Harold Joiner out of the transfer portal from Wake Forest and Auburn.
Walker has had a sensational, difference-making season for the Spartans. Walker has rushed for 1,614 yards and ranks No. 2 in the nation in that category, trailing only Central Michigan’s Lew Nichols.
Walker has emerged as Top 5 Heisman Trophy candidate and the favorite for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation’s top running back.
Joiner has had only 11 carries for the Spartans, for 35 yards with a long of 12. Joiner has three receptions for 24 yards, including a clutch third down, 9-yard chain-mover on Saturday against Penn State.
MSU’s running back room currently includes Walker, who has a year of eligibility remaining but is expected to forgo his final year at Michigan State in order to enter the NFL Draft - although he said following Saturday’s victory over Penn State that he is “not sure right now” if that was his final game at Spartan Stadium.
Sophomore Jordon Simmons was MSU’s second-leading rusher during the regular season. He netted 255 yards on 54 carries (4.7 per attempt).
Simmons’ impact decreased in 2021 compared to last year when he led the team in rushing with 219 yards on 56 carries in a seven-game season.
Junior Elijah Collins rushed for 87 yards on 12 carries. He played in only six games after missing six games due to an ankle injury sustained against Youngstown State.
Collins emerged as MSU’s No. 2 running back for the Penn State game. Simmons did not dress for that game, for unknown reasons.
Redshirt freshman Donovan Eaglin saw time on special teams this season and had 33 yards rushing on six carries.
True freshman Davion Primm is also on the roster.
Meanwhile, two Spartans entered the portal shortly after the regular season ended. Michael Dowell, a former starter at nickel back, put his name in the portal on Sunday. And second-string safety Emmanuel Flowers entered the portal on Monday.
Dowell, a redshirt junior, was MSU’s sixth-leading tackler this season with 40 stops. However, he lost his starting job to sophomore Darius Snow early in the season. Dowell and Snow split time at the nickel back position midway through the year, and then Snow took over the vast majority of the snaps later in the season.
Flowers, a senior with a degree in communications, was a regular in the playing group as a dime back early in the season. However, he lost that role to walk-on Justin White for the Michigan game on Oct. 30 and never regained a foothold in the playing group.
Flowers had three tackles on the year.