What Happened To Elijah Collins Last Season?
The Michigan State football spring game/scrimmage/practice is this Saturday at Spartan Stadium. You can hear broadcast coverage of said event on 1240 WJIM-AM & 94.9 WMMQ, beginning at 1:30 pm.
One of the big questions of last season was: Why did sophomore running back Elijah Collins (pictured above) struggle so badly in 2020 after a very good freshman campaign in 2019?
Well, according to Collins, he told multiple media outlets this week that a rough bout with COVID-19 caused all of his struggles in 2020.
According to Collins: "There were definitely moments where I wanted to reach out and just tell everybody what was actually going on." Collins says that he decided to keep it to himself for his own personal mental health.
Elijah rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in his freshman season in 2019 with five touchdowns. And he began the 2020 season on the Doak Walker Watch List (award given to the country's best running back).
But because of COVID-19, he says he lost weight and muscle that helped him in 2019. And therefore, he struggled on the field and fell on the running back depth chart.
When Tim Staudt, David "Mad Dog" DeMarco did the MSU Tailgate Shows last season, we wondered aloud "What's the deal with Elijah Collins?? What's wrong with him?"
Well, now we know. COVID-19 affects people differently. And it sounds like it affected Collins greatly. Hopefully, a fully healthy Elijah Collins can rebound a be positive factor in 2021 for the Spartans.