Football is a physical game. Injuries happen, but usually teams are not dealing with multiple long-term injuries after just one game. That is not the case for Michigan State.

According to head coach Jonathan Smith, wide receiver Alante Brown will be out until at least November with an upper-body injury. Defensive backs Khalil Majeed and Dillon Tatum both suffered lower-body injuries.

Smith said Majeed is “doubtful” to return and Tatum will be out “at least a couple of months, if not for the year.”

“[It’s] a blow,” Smith said. “All three of them [were] contributing, playing awesome. Feel really bad for them.”

In addition, having a game against Florida Atlantic go down to the final drive makes a Week Two game on the road against a Big Ten opponent seem more difficult. As of Monday, Maryland is favored by more than a touchdown by sportsbooks.

“The schedule is what it is,” Smith said. “I think from game one to game two, we were going to have some serious sense of urgency to get better after game one.

“You've got a big-time opponent that’s got a bunch of good players – it’s a real challenge on the road.”

The losses of Majeed and Tatum makes depth at safety an early concern for the Spartans. It will immediately be tested by Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who threw for over 300 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions against UConn on Saturday in a 50-7 win.

“Getting Malik [Spencer] back [is] huge,” Smith said about responding to the injuries. “Nikai [Martinez] obviously had a nice game. We’ve got some answers, but it’s always going to be the next man up. This game’s a physical game and different positions are going to take a blow or two.”

Martinez had an interception against Florida Atlantic that led to a Michigan State touchdown. Spencer was ejected in the second quarter for committing targeting on a late slide by FAU quarterback Cam Fancher. Since the foul was committed in the first half, Spencer is not suspended for the first half against the Terrapins on Saturday. It should be noted a similar play happened with UConn’s Jordan Wright and Edwards Jr. on Saturday.

“We’ve got to do a better job coaching [the late slides],” Smith said. “Again, it’s not just Michigan State. I pulled a couple clips and showed the team on Sunday that it’s across the country, this showed up in game one. We’re not going to slow down in how we play on defense, but we’ve got to have some awareness around the quarterback, around the sideline. Understand the rule and make some tweaks to maybe how we approach the quarterback, in regards to low versus high. So that’ll be some emphasis this week.”

Offensively, Smith said he was pleased with the level of protection from the offensive line quarterback Aidan Chiles had while passing. Chiles was only sacked once all game. Regardless, 14 points from the offense is never a satisfactory result.

“Run game wasn’t good enough, just the efficiency of it,” Smith said. “We had the [one] long run, but we’ve got to identify it correctly, to start. More consistently correctly, and then we’ve got to get some movement, and so we’ve got to create some more space for [the running backs] to go.

“I did think Kay’ron [Lynch-Adams] carried the ball pretty well, did some good stuff. Nate [Carter] did some good stuff when there was more to run through, and sometimes we’re going to have that. Our style of play, they’re going to load the box at times, there’s going to be some two-yard runs, three-yard runs, we just had way too many of them. We need to get more in the six-to-eight [yard range].”

Lynch-Adams ended up racking up 101 rushing yards on just nine carries, including a 63-yard touchdown. On Sunday, Smith named Lynch-Adams MSU’s Offensive Player of the Game. Carter had 19 carries for 48 yards.

The pass game also has much room to improve. Chiles’ two interceptions were well documented, and it is clear he is holding himself accountable for Friday, but another thing is that tight end Michael Masunas’ 29 receiving yards were enough to lead the team.

“I’m confident in that group,” Smith said about the pass-catchers. “Again, Week One to Week Two to Week Three, we’ve got to continually improve. We’ve got some talent in that room and we’ve got to take a step in our pass game.”

Smith also said that Chiles fully understands where the improvement needs to be and that he was “bouncing around” during a light practice the team had on Sunday.

“I expect him to bounce back this week,” Smith said.

Defensively, Smith said that defensive end Ken Talley was a guy that really stood out to him.

“We said we were going to play a lot of guys, but he wasn’t going to get a ton of snaps,” Smith said. “But with the way the thing went, he did end up impacting the game, the second half in particular.”

Talley only played 20 snaps, but got a sack while the Owls had the ball in the red zone and also forced an incomplete pass from FAU quarterback Cam Fancher on fourth-and-13 with 1:29 left to seal the win for the Spartans.

Overall, it is a big challenge and opportunity for Smith in his first road game and first Big Ten game as head coach of the Spartans. The Terrapins have been known to get off to hot starts, as they are 13-3 in the month of September under head coach Mike Locksley. That includes a 31-9 victory in East Lansing last season.

A victory this weekend could gain Michigan State a fair amount of respect around the conference and make a bowl game appearance at the end of the year seem very achievable.

“You’ve got to be able to start fast,” Smith said about going on the road. “Our routine on the week, whether we’re home or away, doesn’t change a ton. We’ll be back to our practice starting tomorrow. Those three practices will be very similar [to last week].”

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