Michigan State Turns to Jaziun Patterson After Edwards Injury
· Yahoo Sports
Michigan State Spartans running back Cam Edwards was carted off about five minutes into Saturday’s 31-13 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers and is done for the year. Jaziun Patterson spent the rest of that afternoon answering the question of what comes next, carrying 16 times for 54 yards and a touchdown.
Patterson, a senior, is the starting running back for the Spartans moving forward, and Michigan State needs the ground game to hold up. The Spartans are 2-2 after back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Nebraska, and they play at the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, Oct. 3.
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Jaziun Patterson Is Ready to Carry Michigan State
If the Spartans are going to end their two-game losing streak, Patterson will have to handle a bigger load than he ever has. He spent his first four seasons at the Iowa Hawkeyes before transferring to Michigan State, and he arrived behind Edwards on the depth chart.
Patterson rushed for 296 yards on 60 carries with no touchdowns at Iowa in 2025, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. This season with Michigan State, he has 100 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, an average of 3.8. His single-season highs are 63 carries and 309 yards, both set at Iowa in 2024, and he has already matched his career best of two rushing touchdowns in a season. A full run as the starter puts the rest of those marks in reach.
Patterson said he was always prepared for the job, telling 247Sports:
“A guy like me always has that in the back of my mind. It was times I was at Iowa, I might’ve thought I wasn’t gonna play, but I always worked my tail off in practice. I always kept that mindset like, it could happen, it could happen, because it’s a long season at the end of the day. I always try to model my practice and my work ethic behind you don’t never know what’s gonna happen. You don’t never know what’s gonna happen, so you gotta be ready by the time it comes.”
Pat Fitzgerald Knew What He Was Getting
Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald recruited Patterson out of the transfer portal with Edwards already penciled in as the starter, and he told Patterson exactly that in the pitch. Fitzgerald said:
“When I said, ‘Hey, listen, we feel like we may have a guy that’s gonna be the starter. We would want you to come in here and be kind of 1B,’ he goes ‘I don’t care who you bring in. I’m gonna play and make a difference.’ And I was like ‘OK, we want this guy.'”
Wisconsin Is the First Test
Patterson gets the rest of the season to show what he can do, and it starts in Madison on Saturday. If he produces for the Spartans down the stretch, he may put himself on NFL radars on the way out.