The Spartans will need every position fortified this season, and the running back spot shows a lot of promise.

Some players who could already be dealing with injuries are Jordan Hall, who walked off the field with an apparent arm injury, minor enough to continue playing pretty quickly, and Cam Edwards, who took a few tough hits and was a bit slow to get up afterward. They will be players to watch going into game two.

With that in mind, backups will play a key role in how well the Spartans perform this year and how far they can go, aside from special teams, and one of those backups has already done well despite his limited role.

That player is Marvis Parrish, the backup to Cam Edwards, who stepped in while Edwards was recovering, and he may be MSU's best secret weapon that can cover for other units that are struggling.

What the Stats Say About Parrish

• Since he is in a backup role, there isn't much to work with on Parrish from the first game of the season, but what is there says plenty about what he can do in the rush attack.

• He had six carries for 28 yards. That doesn't sound very flashy, and it isn't, but flashy isn't always best, and just because he wasn't flashy doesn't mean he performed badly.

• In fact, Parrish actually had a solid performance when it comes to average yards per carry, coming in near five yards per carry at 4.7, and he was the only rusher on MSU to average above 4.0 yards per attempt.

• Obviously, this is a small sample size, and one game isn't much to work with. But as the season progresses, Parrish could step into a strong support role that helps keep the team on its feet when the engine of the offense, Cam Edwards, is not on the field.

The Opportunity Ahead

• The next match on the Spartans' schedule is against the Eastern Michigan Eagles, a game still to be taken seriously, but it isn't on the level of competition that many of the later games in the season will provide. Therefore, MSU might play it safe and limit some of Edwards' touches.

• Should that be the case, Parrish would get his opportunity to prove his role in full, which would aid MSU in knowing that if Edwards goes down, there is still a capable back behind him on the depth chart.