MSU Punter Jake Hartbarger out 6-8 weeks
Via Chris Solari on twitter: Jake Hartbarger out 6-8 weeks with bone bruise and possible fracture. Rocky Lombardi or Tyler Hunt to punt.
Lombardi is a quarterback and came in for one punt vs ASU when Hartbarger went out. Tyler Hunt is a backup placekicker. Hartbarger was a field position weapon for the Spartans, tough loss for them. Michigan plays MSU in six weeks by my count.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
I saw on RCMB that they think the video looks like he was intentionally injured. Any truth to that? If so, that's a shitty thing to do, even to a Sparty...
September 11th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
I’ve read the same. Any video available?
September 11th, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
I feel bad for Hartbarger, but it was obviously unintentional. Sparty whiners, always the victims.
September 11th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Thanks for posting the clip showing the play.
September 11th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to turn to RCMB for my news anymore. That was about the least intentional injury I've ever seen. Good lord are those people nucking futs...
September 12th, 2018 at 9:33 AM ^
That does not look intentional at all to me
September 11th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
Nah, I don't think it was intentional. Just a guy going for a punt block after the whistle was blown.
Still, I wish they hadn't waived off the roughing the kicker penalty. Our punter was injured in a dead ball situation by an opposing player, seems like you should call something there.
September 11th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
Dead ball situation caused by a false start by the punting team. You would have more of a case if the dead ball situation was caused by the defensive penalty.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
No, dude was pushed down and his helmet hit his leg accidentally from what I recall.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
I watched it live, and I didn’t think it was intentional. It was incredibly unfortunate. MSU fans will probably ask why the defender didn’t stop, but it looks like he sort of fell into him and Hartbarger actually punted the ball. That leads me to believe none of the players knew that a pre-snap penalty had been callled.
I feel awful for the kid, but I don’t believe it was intentional.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
Absolutely not. ASU sent 3 guys to the shield, the play was blown dead, MSU's shield blocked 1 ASU guy who tripped the other ASU guy that fell into the punter's leg.
MSU fans that were screaming that he led with the crown of his helmet/purposefully tried to hurt the punter are complete morons.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
I watched the game live. It was not intentional. They did not get the snap off before the delay of game. It seemed like about half the players from both teams didn't know it was not a live play, including the punter who still went though his kicking motion. One of the defenders hit his leg after stumbling.
It was a freak type injury/situation.
September 11th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
There is an oxymoron in there somewhere.
September 11th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^
Intentionally injuring a punter is the most Sparty thing to do.
September 11th, 2018 at 4:43 PM ^
Kind of like Speight was intentionally injured against Purdue?
September 11th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
This is a huge blow for them. He is a very good punter and could swing some field position battles against them in close games. I would be VERY surprised to see him play against Michigan. That bodes well for us. Hopefully the young man makes a full recovery but takes toward the greater of the recovery window.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
I think they will get their starting left tackle back in two weeks. Unfortunately I would bet their O-line will be much improved by the time they play Michigan.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Their OL has been garbage for some years now. I'd be surprised if they have any luck slowing Gary and Chase, and they won't get push in the run game. Question is how much our interior pass rush can improve before then. Their OL vs. our DL is a matchup we win by a wide margin.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
It was supposed to be that way last year too....
September 11th, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
It mostly was. One of their 2 scores was set up by terrible field position from a turnover and then a screen pass which negates Michigan’s Dline advantage. The other one was Lawerke scrambling which took more advantage of man coverage than it did any blocking at the line.
September 11th, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^
Thank God the NCAA made scrambling and screen passes illegal this offseason....
September 11th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
That was before the hurricane. Once the storm hit, they went in the turtle position and watched us implode.
September 11th, 2018 at 8:25 PM ^
It was. Having an outmatched OL doesn’t guarantee a loss.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
It was such a shitty injury, A. because Hartbarger is a damn good punter and flips the field with regularity, and B. because it was very flukey on a play that was blown dead. A rusher gets kind of thrown into his knee, helmet-first. Sucks for that kid, good for us for that game, but still shitty.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
Sounds like that Targeting call Michigan got called for even though video shows that he got pushed by a MSU player into another MSU player's helmet.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
Yeah, Bolden in the O'Neill punt game.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
Hey welcome back.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
Hartbarger had 4 punts vs ASU averaging 53.5 yards. Lombardi had one for 32. I think this helps us when we play. Although Lombardi will get more practice by then, he is also more likely to shank one, etc...
Just watch the trick plays with a back-up QB punting.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
"All part of the Master plan to beat Michigan" says Dantoni as he fades back in to the weeds..............
September 11th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
Whoever punts for them against us will have the game of their life.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
Why does it always have to be this way?!?!?!
September 11th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
Yeah.. this. I was telling my wife the other day (MSU fan) that MSU NEVER has their worst game of the year against Michigan and almost always has their best game by far against Michigan. She disagreed, but I’m right... aren’t I?
September 11th, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
You know, although it certainly wasn't all the time, it does seem that even in the years where we were consistently great and MSU was consistently meh to not good, they found a way to at least attempt to play the game of their lives against us. There were years where this game would not have looked competitive on paper but it was on the field, for example.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
That's rough for the kid. Hope he recovers fully in 7 weeks.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
Sparty shouldn't speculate on intentional injuries given that they do it themselves often.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
Will Hart has been punting well.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
Belgian waffles are an underrated breakfast item.
September 11th, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
French toast.
September 11th, 2018 at 3:35 PM ^
hes been very impressive. I think hes averaging around 56 yards per punt
September 11th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
Hope he recovers fast and is back to booming punts. He is a good player.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
MSU isn’t exactly known for its stellar special teams.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
One of the options is a backup QB? A dollar says they run a fake punt with him against Michigan.
September 11th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
Yea Rocky Lombardi, he is a QB not a punter, a dollar says he also screws up at some point and cost them dearly.
September 11th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
That's funny coming from MSU fans, considering William Gholston pretty much tried to break Denard's neck with that face mask penalty.
September 11th, 2018 at 2:02 PM ^
Dude ... there was NO PENALTY FLAG thrown for that assault on DR !!! Nothing new at East Lansing ...
Go Blue!
September 11th, 2018 at 1:21 PM ^
He hit an 80 yarder vs ASU? Might not have been 80, but it was close. He completely changed field position on that one punt.
Hope he's ready for us. I want to beat them when they're completely healthy.
September 11th, 2018 at 2:48 PM ^
Heard this on WTKA yesterday, kinda blew my mind a little....MSU is 12-13 in last 25 games
Feel bad for the young man, speedy recovery sir. I hope your replacements are terrible.
September 11th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Miracle healing by the time they play Michigan I'm sure. There should be enough MSU co-eds to get him ready in time.
September 11th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
Whatever happened to "60 minutes of unnecessary roughness"?
September 11th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
Brutal. Helmet to the lower shin like that is ugly painful.