ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan State walked into Saturday night battered by injuries and walked out with Paul Bunyan.
That alone tells you how big this one was. The Spartans didn’t just beat Michigan, they controlled the game the way a team usually does when everything is clicking on defense and the other side keeps handing over chances. Michigan State forced four turnovers and turned that chaos into a 15-6 upset over the Wolverines.
For a program still trying to find its footing, this was the kind of win that lands hard. It was MSU’s first victory in the rivalry since 2021, and it gave the Spartans something they hadn’t had in a while: a night they can actually hang onto.
Pat Fitzgerald now has some real proof that the process is working, even if it’s just slowly but surely. MSU could lose out from here, but there will always be some solace that the team found a way to grind out a victory against their arch-rival, and the fact that Paul Bunyan is back in the team’s trophy case in East Lansing.
The defense made the night possible, and backup cornerback NiJhay Burt was right in the middle of it. With injuries pushing more players into bigger roles, Burt delivered one of the biggest performances on the field. He forced a fumble and later picked off another pass in the fourth quarter, a play that felt like the dagger.
Devin Vaught also made his presence felt early. Questionable coming in because of an injury he suffered at UCLA, he was cleared to play and immediately changed the feel of the game.
He intercepted a Tommy Carr pass after a tip from UM wide receiver JJ Buchanan early, and that turnover helped set the tone for a game that was about to get strange in a hurry. Not long after, Vaught added another pass breakup before leaving in the first half and not returning.
That loss mattered, because Michigan State was already thin on defense. The Spartans were down their star in the first and second levels, with DT Ben Roberts and LB Jordan Hall both out.
On offense, the night belonged to Liam Boyd in a very specific way: he scored every point. In a rivalry game where field position and nerves mattered, Boyd made all five of his field-goal attempts. For a kicker, that’s as clean a night as it gets.
Brandon Tullis also earned his place in the story. With Michigan State’s top three running backs unavailable, the Spartans had to lean on a player who had barely seen the field this season as the team’s fourth or fifth option. Tullis answered with the kind of performance that can change how a staff views him going forward.
His pass protection has been a concern, and that’s been true in his limited work this year and last. But on Saturday, he held up.
Even better, his running showed real progress. He ran with patience, trusted his blocks, and kept finding yards when there didn’t seem to be much there.
That was the theme of the night for Michigan State: players forced into bigger roles, and enough of them came through to knock off Michigan.
In Other News...
Michigan State Just Gave Pat Fitzgerald His First Defining Win
Michigan States 15-6 win over Michigan gave Pat Fitzgerald a signature moment early in his tenure, and it came in the kind of game that can tell you a lot about a programs direction. The Spartans had to piece things together through injuries and roster challenges, but they still found enough from Tommy Carr, Brandon Tullis, Chrishon McCray and a steady special teams effort to grind out a result that felt bigger than a single rivalry game.
For Fitzgerald, the value of the victory goes beyond the scoreboard. Michigan State did not just survive a difficult afternoon, it showed the sort of toughness and structure that coaches spend months trying to build, especially when the roster is stretched thin. A win like this can become a reference point for a new era, and the Spartans now have one to point to as they keep shaping what this team is supposed to look like. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Dantonio Had The Perfect Reaction To Michigan State's Rivalry Win
Michigan States rivalry win over Michigan landed as one of those results that instantly travels beyond the box score, especially with the Spartans pulling it off as a double-digit underdog. The game had the kind of defensive edge that tends to define this matchup, and for a program still measuring itself against its biggest in-state rival, it carried the sort of weight that goes well beyond one afternoon.
Mark Dantonio noticed. The former Michigan State coach took to social media to celebrate the upset, nodding back to his famous line about the rivalry and reminding everyone how deeply these games can resonate around East Lansing. Under current coach Pat Fitzgerald, the Spartans now have a victory that fits squarely into the programs larger culture, even if the conversation around it is still very much alive. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Exposed A Bigger Problem Than Losing To Michigan State
Michigans 15-6 loss to Michigan State did more than flip the scoreboard in a rivalry game where the Wolverines were favored by two touchdowns. It put a spotlight on the kind of offensive unraveling that has followed Michigan through stretches of the 2026 season, with just 192 total yards, four turnovers and a ground game that was outperformed by the Spartans.
For Michigan State, the win was the cleanest possible answer to a game the Wolverines were expected to control, but the bigger takeaway for the maize-and-blue side is how many problems surfaced at once. The offense never found rhythm, the coaching decisions came under scrutiny and even special teams became part of the conversation, leaving Michigan with more to sort through than a single bad result. [Read more 🡒]