Michigan State will be without one of its starting cornerbacks for the rest of the season.

On Sunday night, MSU coach Mark Dantonio confirmed Vayante Copeland will miss the remainder of the 2015 season after fracturing a vertebra in his neck in MSU's 31-28 win against Oregon.

“It's very unfortunate, he’s a good player, he’s a great person," Dantonio said. "So he’s handling it very, very well. But that’s the situation. You cannot mess with that kind of thing. We took the precautions, had the MRI and those are the things it showed.

"He’ll heal fine, he’ll be back for spring. But right now it’s too iffy of a situation.”

The 6-foot, 195-pound Copeland moved into the starting lineup this season as a redshirt freshman, reeling in his first interception to seal MSU's season-opening win at Western Michigan.

"He’s a redshirt freshman, so he’ll be back and we’ll look forward to his return in the spring," Dantonio said.

Copeland was redshirted last season, with Dantonio unsure if it was for a medical reason. If the redshirt was aided by an injury, Michigan State could ultimately petition for a sixth year for Copeland -- also if he chooses to do so at that time.

Michigan State previously lost starting strongside linebacker Ed Davis to a season-ending knee injury in preseason camp.

Dantonio added that MSU hopes to have linebacker Drake Martinez back soon, possibly in the next two weeks.