How Michigan State football will handle Indiana without LB Jordan Turner for a half

EAST LANSING – The loss to Michigan took a toll Michigan State football one of his best defensive players for 45 minutes of football

It’s an unfortunate loss at an unfortunate moment – next up is Indiana’s potent No. 13 offense.

Linebacker Jordan Turner will miss the first half of Saturday’s game against USA Hoosiers (3:30 p.m., Peacock), Leaving the Spartans without their leading tackler at the heart of their vastly improved and teeming defense.

“Very unfortunate. A bit of a crazy decision in my opinion,” fellow linebacker Jordan Hall said on Wednesday. “But we have to keep going, keep going. We will miss him in the first half, but we will continue to prepare throughout the week and look for him to contribute, as he always does in the second half.”

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On the last play of the third quarter Saturday’s 24-17 loss to the WolverinesTurner went down when UM’s Alex Orji took a shotgun snap and faked a handoff. Turner hit Orji in the hole, with the running quarterback firing first touch for a 3-yard gain.

During the TV timeout between quarters, the replay officials reviewed the goal and assessed Turner a targeting penalty. He was ruled out of the game and missed the final 15 minutes. UM scored four plays later, with running back Donovan Edwards throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colson Loveland while the Spartans’ linebackers and safeties covered the run and Turner was out of the game.

“We practice making tackles with proper form, so it’s not like I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going into a tackle, 000, I have to keep my head up.’ It’s just something we practice and it becomes routine,” Hall said. “Sometimes in the heat of the moment, depending on your perspective and so on, something happens. Which is what I think happened in JT’s case, at least in the slightest.”

MSU coach Jonathan Smith said Monday the school challenged the Big Ten call after the game and league officials rejected MSU’s appeal. Turner is eligible under NCAA targeting rules to play in the second half for the Spartans (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) against the Hoosiers (8-0, 5-0).

That will likely move Hall, a sophomore, to Turner’s spot alongside Cal Haladay in the middle of Joe Rossi’s defense, which held UM standout Kalel Mullings to just 18 yards on 13 carries and Iowa star Kaleb Johnson to 98 on Saturday Limited yards (75) (including a late touchdown run) on 14 attempts in a win a week earlier. It will also expand the already expanding roles of seniors Darius Snow and Wayne Matthews III.

Turner leads the Spartans with 48 tackles, five of which came from Saturday’s game at UM. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound fifth-year senior, who transferred to MSU from Wisconsin in the offseason, also has three sacks, one interception and two QB hurries.

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“He’s really important. Obviously you saw the plays he made,” Snow said of Turner. “Not only is he a good football player, he is also a great leader and a great vocal leader. We just have to play and we’ll get him back in the second half, which is cool. But I have confidence in Jordan Hall, I think he’s a great player.”

MSU ranks 45th nationally in run defense, allowing 129.6 yards on the ground, and is 23rd nationally in giving up 315.9 yards per game. The Spartans will look to continue that trend against Indiana’s potent offense, which ranks sixth in the country in total offense (487.6 yards), 24th in rushing yards (200.6) and second in the Football Subdivision takes place in the points ranking (46.5 points).

Hoosiers starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke suffered a thumb injury on his throwing hand during a game two weeks ago and sat out Saturday’s 31-17 home win over Washington. Rourke underwent surgery last Monday, but according to ESPN, the Ohio University transfer is expected to try out against the Spartans.

Backup Tayven Jackson was 11 of 19 for 124 yards with an interception as well as passing and rushing touchdowns against the Huskies, while running back Justice Ellison, a transfer from Wake Forest, ran 29 times for 123 yards and a score.

“The only thing I know is they’re going to have a quarterback,” MSU secondary coach Blue Adams said Wednesday. “My approach is that the man they put in will be the one who gives them the best chance of winning. And I think that in college football, especially at the level that we play at, every quarterback is a legitimate quarterback. They can throw the ball well, determine moves and control the game well.

“The only thing I can kind of prepare for is that the guy is going to be a good player, and that’s kind of how we attack it.”

Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football prepares to face Indiana without LB Jordan Turner

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