For one afternoon in Ann Arbor, the ball kept finding Tullis, and Michigan kept feeling the effects.
The Dallas, Texas native handled an unbelievable 25 carries in MSU’s 15-6 win at Michigan Stadium, turning that workload into a career-best 86 rushing yards. It was a massive jump from where he had been coming into the game, when he had only 53 rushing yards through four contests. He also blew past his previous season high of 37 yards against Eastern Michigan.
“He’s just an absolutely terrific young man,” MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “Opportunity presented itself, and he responded.
He was noncontact in Tuesday’s practice, so that tells you the type of game the young man played today. I’m incredibly proud of him.”
Tullis was at the center of how MSU controlled the matchup. The Spartans owned the ball for 38 minutes and seven seconds, more than 16 minutes longer than Michigan, and leaned on him to keep the offense on schedule. That mattered in a rivalry where ground production has long been a deciding factor: since 1969, 87.5% of Michigan-MSU games have been won by the team that gained more yards on the ground.
One sequence captured the day perfectly. On MSU’s seventh drive, after Michigan punter Cam Brown pinned the Spartans at the 1-yard line, Tullis and the offense answered with a 79-yard march over 17 plays that burned 10 minutes and 41 seconds. Tullis carried the ball eight times on that possession alone, helping wear down the Wolverine defense while keeping Michigan’s offense stuck on the sideline.
The performance looked nothing like the spot Tullis occupied when the season opened. He had been MSU’s backup running back last year and stayed with the program through the coaching change, hoping to build on that role.
A three-star recruit who had originally committed to Oregon State before following former MSU head coach Jonathan Smith to East Lansing, Tullis found a place in his second season. But when Fitzgerald and the new staff arrived, he slid down the depth chart and entered the season as the fifth-string back.
“No matter what, no matter where you are in the depth chart, it doesn’t matter,” Tullis said. “You keep working, and you start on the road, and that’s what everyone did today and kept doing the whole season: kept believing.”
Injuries opened the door. Senior running backs Cam Edwards and Jaziun Patterson, along with sophomore running back Marvis Parrish, all missed the Michigan game. Junior running back Kenneth Williams was also dealing with a lingering injury, and that gave Tullis a role he had never before held in his MSU career.
Williams still chipped in with 41 rushing yards on 10 carries, and the two backs gave MSU the physical edge Nick Sheridan’s offense needed. Together, they helped the Spartans finish with the ground-game advantage that has so often shaped this rivalry.
“Our coach was calling us thunder and lightning,” Tullis said. “We were just bouncing off each other and some really good runs to sustain the drive.”
Beyond the Paul Bunyan Trophy, the win meant more for MSU’s season. The Spartans snapped a six-game losing streak and ended a five-year wait to beat their rivals. It also gave Fitzgerald his first Big Ten win as MSU’s head coach, a result that landed hard with a fan base hungry for something to celebrate.
MSU is still 3-6 with three games left, but Saturday gave the Spartans a much-needed lift after a rough stretch.
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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
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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
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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 🡒]