EAST LANSING — It might be an off-the-radar position, but Michigan State football will be without one of its most important specialists for the rest of the season.

Coach Mark Dantonio said senior long snapper Ryan Armour will miss the rest of the season and needs surgery after suffering a left leg injury in the Spartans’ 28-7 victory over Tulsa on Friday.

Armour, who took over the starting position last season, was the trigger for four Matt Coghlin field goals and two extra points, and he also helped Jake Hartbarger average 47.4 yards per punt in his return from a leg injury that cost him most of 2018.

“It's a tough injury,” Dantonio said Tuesday. “But he's recovering mentally from it.”

[ Dantonio to offense: 'We can play much better than that' ]

That means true freshman Jude Pedrozo will take over snapping duties on punts and placekicks. The 6-foot-1, 224-pound walk-on from Westerville, Ohio, snapped on MSU’s final punt against Tulsa.

“He was the heir apparent,” Dantonio said of Pedrozo. “He's a good snapper. We recruited him with that idea, that he would be the guy. He's just going to have to pick up the slack a little earlier.

“He went in and snapped very well. He's done very well in practice. I have no concerns in terms of how he's going to do. I think he'll be outstanding.”

More:What MSU learned vs. Tulsa, what to watch vs. Western Michigan

The Spartans already are without defensive end Zach Slade for the year after he suffered a season-ending injury during preseason camp.

Dantonio said senior offensive lineman Cole Chewins remains out of action and “needs to practice full-go before he can play.” The 13th-year coach did not give an update on the ankle injury suffered by A.J. Arcuri, who was supposed to take over at left tackle for Chewins. That required fellow junior Kevin Jarvis to flip from right guard to the left edge about 10 days before the opener.

Freshman Anthony Williams also remains “nicked up,” and Dantonio said it depends on how his week goes if he will make his debut against Western Michigan on Saturday (7:30 p.m., BTN). Dantonio also said second-string defensive end Jack Camper is expected back soon after missing the opener Friday.

Penalty problems

The Spartans committed 14 penalties for 122 yards against Tulsa, their most flags ever under Dantonio and the most yardage for infractions since losing 124 yards on 13 calls against Wisconsin in 2011.

“You have the good, the bad and the ugly — the ugly was the penalties,” Dantonio said. “We talk about penalties over and over and over again. Some of them are forced penalties, a (pass interference) or something like that. Sometimes a holding call. Some of them are unforced. We have to limit the unforced penalties, jumping off-sides. We had too many of those that put us immediately in situations.”

Nine of those calls Friday went against the offense, four on special teams and one late-hit on defense (along with two pass interference penalties that were declined).

MSU had two games with nine penalties last season, against Utah State and Arizona State. The Spartans moved back a season-worst 87 yards against Nebraska.

More:Jalen Nailor, Cody White making MSU's return game a force

Weekly honors

Kenny Willekes was named the national defensive player of the week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Big Ten’s defender of the week.

But he was not alone.

Coghlin was named to the Stars of the Week by the Lou Groza Award committee, which gives the annual award to the nation’s best kicker. And Willekes’ fellow defensive end, Jacub Panasiuk, earned spots on the Pro Football Focus national defense and All-Big Ten teams of the week.

Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.