A year ago, Michigan State was the Big Ten’s most pleasant surprise. The Spartans bounced back from a disastrous 2-5 showing in their COVID-shortened 2020 season to win a New Year’s 6 bowl and finish 9th in the country.

Mel Tucker was suddenly one of college football’s hottest commodities, and Michigan State responded with a fully guaranteed 10-year, $95 million contract extension to keep him in East Lansing. The expectation was that the momentum would carry into this season and beyond.

A couple years ago, though, there was a different surprise team making waves in the B1G. Indiana.

The Hoosiers climbed into the Top 10 for the first time in 5 decades. The momentum was expected to carry over into 2021 as Indiana entered the year in the preseason Top 25 for the first time since 1968.

Then, 1 by 1, seemingly every important Indiana player was victimized by the injury bug. It began with quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was the Hoosiers’ heart-and-soul in 2020 before tearing his ACL. Indiana spiraled all the way to 2-10 in 2021, and Penix hit the transfer portal following his second straight season-ending injury.

Both subjects felt very relevant Saturday night in Seattle.

The entire college football world was reminded of what Penix can do when healthy. Revitalized by a move to Washington, Penix sautéed the Spartans for 397 passing yards and 4 touchdowns in the Huskies’ 39-28 win.

Michigan State, in the meantime, is starting to resemble last year’s Hoosiers. Difference-makers are going down at an alarming rate. And if the Spartans don’t start getting bodies back, this season may spiral. It won’t be as ugly as Indiana’s free-fall, but it will be far from pretty in the stacked Big Ten East.

Many MSU contributors MIA

Jayden Reed is Michigan State’s most talented player on offense and special teams. So when the Spartans announced the wide receiver didn’t make the trip due to a freak injury, it became clear why Washington was considered a betting favorite against the 11th-ranked team in the country.

Reed is that kind of spark plug for the Spartans. And to lose him because he apparently suffered a very deep cut on his back after falling into a bench last week is preposterously bad injury luck. If you had to guess a football team in Michigan such a thing would happen to, you’d take the Lions every time.

But Reed’s absence is not why Michigan State lost this game. Far from it.

Payton Thorne, playing without the receiver who has been his security blanket since high school, looked far more confident than Linus Van Pelt would be in a blanket-less scenario. Thorne converted 4 fourth downs and completed 71% of his passes for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns. Save for a very poor interception thrown from his own end zone, this was among Thorne’s best career showings.

And the rapport he showed with Keon Coleman and tight end Daniel Barker is going to pay dividends when Reed is back from his back wound. Coleman had 9 grabs for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns. Barker caught 7 balls for 69 yards.

Michigan State will be able to score all season. But will the Spartans be able to stop anybody?

Not as currently constructed.

The Spartans were missing key contributors from all 3 levels of their defense, and it helped Washington tear them apart. Linebacker Darius Snow is out for the season. All-B1G safety Xavier Henderson hasn’t played since the second quarter of the season opener. Defensive tackle Jacob Slade, certainly among the Big Ten’s 5 best at that position, was also out with an injury.

If Slade and Henderson are out for an extended length of time, the middle of Michigan State’s defense is even more gaping than Reed’s apparent wound.

Defensive depth a major question mark

When it comes to finding stars in the transfer portal, Tucker hits it out of the park.

Kenneth Walker III was the best running back in college football last season. Outside linebacker Jacoby Windmon got off to a scorching start with 5.5 sacks in Michigan State’s first 2 games.

But it’s starting to look like this season will hinge on Tucker’s ability to recruit and develop depth more so than his knack for landing top-line talent. Slade and Henderson are difficult to replace. However, they shouldn’t be impossible to replace. At least not when your program is building an identity on “Tuck comin'” for recruits.

And in order to make it through the Big Ten East, depth is what the Spartans need.

Ohio State and Michigan are both College Football Playoff contenders. Penn State looks like a team with a 9-win floor. Maryland is certainly capable of torching Michigan State’s secondary. West crossover games against Minnesota and Wisconsin are no picnic. Even Illinois will be a tough out in Champaign on Nov. 5.

If the Spartans don’t develop that defensive depth, they’ll need their studs to come back soon. Without them, it’s not implausible that this team follows Indiana’s script to a T — the unexpected toast of the B1G one year, then not even playing in a bowl the next.