Tarik Black out indefinitely, Isaac "going to be okay"
Huge bummer. He's been fun to watch. Next man up, WR depth will be tested.
Harbaugh: Tarik Black is going to be out. Will have surgery. Has crack on the outside of his foot. Not sure if he will be back this seasoon
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) September 18, 2017
Edit: Some slightly better news:
Harbaugh on Ty Issac: I think he is going to be okay
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) September 18, 2017
September 18th, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
Hoping for a speedy recovery. Hopefully some of the other young guns we brought in can fill the void he leaves behind.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
Crawford just caught himself more playing time, hopefully he can actually hang on to the opportunity.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
This is why i always turned injuries off in a dynasty on NCAA football...Injuries are no fun for anyone...Good luck to him, hope he stays positive
September 18th, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
He should take it slow coming back. Foot injuries can linger.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
As we saw with Caris LeVert in basketball.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
Let's not rush this young man back. Make a full recovery. First game in 2018 is plenty good enough. Some of our other young lions will have to step up. So be it.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
Sucks man. Hope Black gets healthy soon and is back on the field ASAP.
Was talking with my dad yesterday about this. We both said the same thing, which was basically while we obviously don't want Black injured, it's not going to be a back-breaker by any means.
This passing offense was not succeeding with Black, and I don't forsee it getting that much worse without him. There's a ton of talent at WR to step up and make plays. Speight hasn't been playing up to par with Black, and having Black out there wasn't going to be the reason this passing O got going. If Speight plays well, the passing O does well, and that performance will most likely be independent of Black's presence.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:40 PM ^
That said, I feel like Black and Speight have been showing a little more chemistry recently. Lots of reps seemed to be beginning to pay off. As such, this one hurts a bit. I hope someone else can QUICKLY develop.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
The Isaac news is much bigger to me. I still like Evans/Higdon (especially Evans) and think we could have been fine with them, but Isaac has clearly been the best back so as long as he's good to go longterm (aka by PSU), I'm happy. Honestly just get through Purdue and then we have the bye, so hopefully he's 100% by MSU.
September 18th, 2017 at 3:16 PM ^
Amen, I was thinking about it last night. I never thought I'd be going into a Purdue thinking "let's just survive" then we get week to rest up and fix our issues before Sparty comes calling.
Speight after the bye last year was ON FIRE. Here's hoping he resets and reverts back to that version of himself after the bye this year.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
One would think that averaging 112 yards a game for the first few weeks would help us learn how to spell Ty's name correctly, but I guess not.
I guess he's just not as good as Brandon Miner, Fitzgerald Twosaint, and Carlos Braun.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
I think we will be fine. WR is a deep position. I am more worried about Issac.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
Not sounding too good for a return this season for Black. Hopefully he is ok for the long haul.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
DPJ, Oliver Martin and Nico Collins to step up, freshman or not.
Also need one or two of the tight ends to get open and get some targets.
Crawford needs to stop the drops, he has talent and will be good.
McDoom got a couple of targets last game - hopefully, he starts to get into the flow other than just the jet sweep.
Losing Black sucks. But we do have talent to help fill the void...
September 18th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
Can we catch a red-shirt for Black still. I know this is discussed every year but I have had a few concussions in my life and can't remember he necessary time needed for it to count as a year.
I know any time played gets rid of a regular red-shirt. I am talking about a medical one.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
Pretty sure the cutoff is 30% of the regular season. So 3 games and an injury you can redshirt, 4 games and an injury and you're out of luck. Black should get an extra year.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
Four games is the maximum. It also has to occur in the early part of the season.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:51 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
had that foot injury too that cost him a full year, but he seemed to focus on the weight room and came back really strong which ended up being a big asset. Hate it for TB as I think he has all of the skills.
I think we will see more pass wrinkles against MSU, TE passing especially (the Gentry drag routes aren't much special in my small opinion). No need to put it all out there on film for Corntonio to scheme against.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
I kinda hope we just start throwing TEs at people, but I imagine we might see more of the other freshman WRs
September 18th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
in particular, because he's tall enough to grab Speight's overthrown passes. But if the TE's and RB's are needed to shore up the OL, I don't know if that's really an option.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
as some people are, but the line really worries me.
I think Speight maybe hasn't fully recovered (either mentally or physically) from his injury last season.
September 18th, 2017 at 2:03 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 12:57 PM ^
Is he an option at WR? I thought I saw an interview with him a while ago wherein he stated that he was taking some reps at WR "just to expand his awareness" of overall route running techniques.
September 18th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^
For all intents and purposes he's a jumbo WR. I really don't view him as a TE.
September 18th, 2017 at 3:19 PM ^
I think we see more TEs, BUT I also think we see more SLOTS.
Which hopefully we ditch these slow developing NFL route combinations and we start hitting guys like Oliver on the crossing routes. Hopefully having DPJ and his speed gets the coaches to just figure out ways to get him the ball in space. Hopefully the addition of a TE allows us to run more playaction roll-out stuff, Y Banana.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:32 PM ^
I would have been less concerned about this at the beginning of the season, but the passing game is a problem right now and Black was probably its best feature. Speight is having chemistry issues with the receivers as it is, removing his best target is not good.
DPJ needs to start coming through on the hype now. Might be time for the O coaches to install some simpler stuff for the receivers.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^
Speight probably leans a little more on Perry now... that along with more tight end targets keeps us at the same level. DPJ and OL (targeting) improvement gets this offense to the level it should be at
September 18th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^
We can't dumb this offense down anymore. We simply can't be effective running a "dumbed down" offense. Half of the battle is the defense not knowing what's coming.
The play calling as it is needs to improve. We aren't keeping any defenses guessing right now. It doesn't matter how well you execute if the defense is on to what you're doing,
September 18th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
Dave. Cocksucker.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
there's nothing special about the air force D. This comment would only make sense if hurst or gary blew a knee out from a crack block
September 18th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
But I like to blame DB for everything that goes wrong in life. If we go to war with North Korea I'll find a way to blame him for it.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
Hopefully they'll try some new things on offense like throwing to the RB's.
September 18th, 2017 at 1:02 PM ^
When (if??) the OL gets to a point where they can handle protection without keeping RB/TEs in, we'll see more of that. Here's to Ulizio and Onwenu growing on the right side.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
Anything at all on Rashan Gary, he was banged up and missed some series.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
very quickly. He sure has resurrected his career this season.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
I want to hear announcer puns about Mo Ways, and shouts of his name as he pulls in touchdowns.
September 18th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^
.....healing vibes. Get well soon.
September 18th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
but, as others have pointed out, a survivable injury from teh team's perspective. Too bad, b/c he was looking like a very reliable #1/#2 guy, and WS has precious little time to get another person to that place before we start seeing some very tough teams.
September 18th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 3:13 PM ^
September 18th, 2017 at 3:17 PM ^
Yes, but doubt he stays 5 years. This feels more like a Jabrill situation, which sucks.
September 18th, 2017 at 3:21 PM ^
Terrible news for Black, definitely wish him all the best and hope he's able to figure out ways to continue developing as a player. Sit him up in the booth with Drevno and Pep and let him learn some things and get better without actually being on the field.