Michigan
How Michigan State football will deal with Indiana without LB Jordan Turner for a half
MSU football: Video analysis of the Spartans’ 24-17 loss at Michigan
Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch and Detroit Free Press MSU beat writer Chris Solari break down the Spartans’ 24-17 loss at Michigan.
EAST LANSING — The loss to Michigan cost Michigan State football one of its best defensive players for 45 minutes of football
It’s an inopportune loss at an unfortunate moment — with No. 13 Indiana’s high-powered offense up next.
Linebacker Jordan Turner will miss the first half of Saturday’s game against the Hoosiers (3:30 p.m., Peacock), leaving the Spartans without their leading tackler in the heart of their vastly improved and swarming defense.
“Very unfortunate. A little bit of a crazy call, in my opinion,” fellow linebacker Jordan Hall said Wednesday. “But we gotta keep pushing on, keep moving on. We’ll miss him in the first half, but we’re going to keep preparing out through the week and get ready for him to contribute like he always does in the second half.”
On the final play of the third quarter in Saturday’s 24-17 loss to the Wolverines, Turner crashed down as U-M’s Alex Orji took a shotgun snap and faked a handoff. Turner met Orji in the hole, with the running quarterback spinning off the initial contact for a 3-yard gain.
During the TV timeout between the quarters, replay officials reviewed the hit and cited Turner for a targeting penalty. He was ejected from the game, missing the final 15 minutes. U-M scored four plays later, with running back Donovan Edwards throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colson Loveland as the Spartans’ linebackers and safeties overplayed the run with Turner out of the game.
“We practice making the right form tackles, so it’s not something that I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going into a tackle,000 like, I need to keep my head up.’ It’s just something that we practice and it becomes routine,” Hall said. “Sometimes in the heat of the moment, depending on the angles and whatnot, stuff happens. Which I think happened in JT’s case in the slightest bit.”
MSU coach Jonathan Smith on Monday said the school challenged the call to the Big Ten after the game, and league officials denied MSU’s appeal. Turner will be eligible to play in the second half for the Spartans (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) against the Hoosiers (8-0, 5-0), per NCAA targeting rules.
That likely will move Hall, a sophomore, into Turner’s spot next to Cal Haladay in the middle of Joe Rossi’s defense, which held U-M leading rusher Kalel Mullings to just 18 yards on 13 carries Saturday and limited Iowa star Kaleb Johnson to 98 yards (75 of which came on one late touchdown run) on 14 attempts in an win a week earlier. It also will expand the already-growing role of senior Darius Snow and Wayne Matthews III.
Turner leads the Spartans with 48 tackles, with five of them coming in Saturday’s game at U-M. The 6-foot-1, 231-pound fifth-year senior, who transferred to MSU from Wisconsin in the offseason, also has three sacks, an interception and two QB hurries.
“He’s really important. Obviously, you’ve seen the plays that he’s made,” Snow said of Turner. “He’s not just a good football player, but he’s a great leader and vocal. We’re just gonna have to play, and we’ll get him back in the second half, which is cool. But I have confidence in Jordan Hall, I think he’s a great player.”
MSU ranks 45th in the nation in run defense, allowing 129.6 yards on the ground, and is tied for 23rd nationally in giving up 315.9 yards per game. The Spartans will try to continue that trend against Indiana’s high-powered offense that ranks sixth in the nation in total offense (487.6 yards), 24th in rushing yards (200.6) and second in the Football Subdivision in scoring (46.5 points)
Hoosiers starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke suffered a thumb injury on his throwing hand during a game two weeks ago and sat out Saturday’s 31-17 home win over Washington. Rourke had surgery last Monday but, according to ESPN, the Ohio University transfer is expected to try and play against the Spartans.
Backup Tayven Jackson was 11-for-19 for 124 yards with an interception along with passing and rushing TDs against the Huskies, while running back Justice Ellison, a Wake Forest transfer, ran 29 times for 123 yards and a score.
“The only thing I know is they’re going to have a quarterback,” MSU secondary coach Blue Adams said Wednesday. “My approach is the guy that they put in is going to be the guy to give them the best chance of winning. And I think in college football, especially at the level that we we play on, I think every quarterback is a legitimate quarterback. They can throw the ball well, and they can call plays and manage the game well.
“So the only thing I can kind of prepare for is that dude is going to be a good player, and so we kind of attack it that way.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Amazon Prime Day 2026 will span four days next week. Here’s when
Amazon Prime Day 2026 begins next week and will last for four days. Only Prime members benefit from Amazon’s biggest annual sales event.
Prime Day is in full swing, and as Michigan residents scroll though deals, there are Michigan-themed coffee/tea mugs to consider, perhaps for a gift or to spice up your morning sip.
Amazon Prime Day — the 4-day event of discounted items for Prime members — begins at 3:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday, June 23, and ends at 2:59 ET, on Friday, June 26.
Here are five fun Michigan-themed mugs to consider as you shop for deals this week:
Michigan coffee mug by Primitives by Kathy
The 18-fluid-ounce Michigan-inspired stoneware mug is designed to represent the state with its scattered wraparound design. It includes a large outline of the state and a deer, surrounded with key words such as “yoopers,” “fudge,” “Big Mac,” “dunes,” “Great Lakes,” “we’re smitten in the mitten,” and others.
It is priced at $11.48 on Amazon Prime. Primitives By Kathy is the name of the company.
Sip and admire a detailed map of Michigan by Xplorer Maps
The founder and owner of the company, Xplorer Maps, illustrates maps by hand on everyday items such as a mug. On Amazon, there is a 16-fluid-ounce mug available that features a map of Michigan on one side with landmarks, and other illustrations of what Michigan is known for on the other side.
It is priced at $19.99 on Amazon Prime.
Represent Michigan with a Detroit Lions coffee mug
There are several Detroit Lions-themed coffee mugs available on Amazon Prime. One design by Rico Industries is a 12-ounce campfire mug fully coated in the iconic honolulu blue shade with a speckled print and the team’s logo.
It is priced at $16.52 on Amazon Prime.
On-the-go Michigan-inspired travel mug
In another busy Michigan design, Swig Life’s 22-ounce insulated travel mug is scattered with the state’s landmarks and key illustrations. The travel mug is cup holder friendly and is stainless steel with a handle.
It is priced at $30.07 on Amazon Prime.
Simple Michigan coffee mug deal on Prime Day
For those who are looking for a more straight-forward design, the coffee mug by Andaz Press via Amazon is perhaps an option. The 11-ounce mug includes a simple print of Michigan’s silhouette with the word “home” beside it.
It is priced at $14.21 on Amazon Prime.
Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@lsj.com
Lansing — Michigan residents will be able to begin voting this week in the state’s Aug. 4 primary election with nominations for governor, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House and the Legislature hanging in the balance.
Under the Michigan Constitution, by Thursday — 40 days before Election Day — clerks have to ensure that absentee ballots are available for voters and that ballot dropboxes, through which the ballots can be returned, are accessible.
Michael Siegrist, the clerk in Canton Township, said this week marks the start of the election.
“Most of the voters in Michigan are going to have a ballot in their hand within the next week or two,” Siegrist said.
Siegrist, a Democrat and the president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, was referring to the fact that most of the vote in the primary election is expected to come through absentee ballots.
In the August 2024 primary election, as an example, about 65% of the vote in Michigan’s largest county, Wayne County, came via absentee ballots.
Adrian Hemond, a Michigan political consultant and CEO of the firm Grassroots Midwest, said it will be difficult this year for candidates who go into Election Day behind their opponents on absentee ballots to catch up.
“It’s basically the election,” Hemond said of the absentee ballot window.
A larger portion of the vote in primaries comes through absentee ballots than in general elections because there’s usually a smaller pool of voters in primaries and primary participants tend to be more educated about their ballot options.
Before 2018, Michigan voters generally had to have an explanation to cast an absentee ballot, like they planned to be out of state on the date of the election. But in 2018, they approved a ballot proposal that allowed for no-reason absentee voting, broadly providing the option to submit an absentee ballot through the mail, a dropbox or by turning it in at the clerk’s office.
Local clerks can’t begin processing and tabulating the absentee ballots until July 27, at the earliest.
Also, in July, Michiganians can begin voting early in person into a tabulator. The exact date of the early voting window opening depends on decisions made by local clerks, but it has to start statewide by July 25.
In Michigan’s last primary election in a year when the governor’s office was on the ballot, about 2.17 million voters participated, according to the Secretary of State’s tracking.
Both Republican and Democratic primary ballots have contested races for their gubernatorial nominations this year.
On the Democratic side, voters will pick between Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. On the GOP side, there are four candidates on the ballot: former Attorney General Mike Cox of Livonia, U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, businessman Perry Johnson of Bloomfield Hills and state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt of Porter Township.
Early polling has indicated that Republican gubernatorial race and the Democratic campaign for U.S. Senate might be close. The Democratic U.S. Senate contest has three contenders: former public health official Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham.
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is the lone Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.
Tony Forlini, the clerk in Macomb County, said he expects voters who are on the permanent absentee ballot list to begin getting the ballots in the coming days. Some of them will turn their filled-out ballots in as soon as they have the chance, Forlini said.
“We’re ready for it,” said Forlini, a Republican who’s running for secretary of state this fall
In Michigan’s largest city, Detroit, election officials are sending out 99,000 absentee ballots for the primary, said Matt Friedman, spokesman for Detroit Votes, the nonpartisan voter information campaign that partners with Detroit’s elections department.
“Voters are starting to receive absentee ballots this week for the primary election, as they have for the third consecutive year in Detroit, under Michigan’s absentee and early voting laws that took effect in 2024 as part of Michigan’s Constitution,” Friedman said.
In the August 2024 primary, about 63% of Detroit’s 84,994 ballots cast were absentee, about 3% were early votes and about 34% were in-person Election Day votes.
cmauger@detroitnews.com,
(FOX 2) – Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel is stepping down from her position, the governor’s office announced.
Hertel led the division for several years while serving under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, including during the pandemic. While she will be tackling a new chapter in her career, it’s unclear where her next position will be.
Amy Epkey has been promoted to acting director of the agency. She will assume the role on July 1.
What they’re saying:
“Amy Epkey brings decades of experience in state government and a proven record of leadership, and I am confident she will continue the important work of the Department of Health and Human Services,” the governor said in a statement. “I also want to thank Director Hertel for her dedicated service to our state. Under her leadership, MDHHS helped Michigan navigate unprecedented challenges, expanded access to health care, strengthened behavioral health services, and improved outcomes for families across our state.”
Dig deeper:
Epkey previously worked in the financial operations administration at MDHHS, overseeing the agency’s $40 billion budget, contracts and grants, as well as finance and accounting.
Epkey has also worked within the state’s environmental and agricultural departments.
Zoom out:
Hertel cited the expansion of behavioral health services, designing two new state-of-the-art psychiatric hospitals, as well as launching the Keep Kids Safe Action Agenda as among her accomplishments.
The Source: The Michigan governor’s office issued a news release that was cited for this story.
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