Pat Fitzgerald didn’t like what he saw from his defense against Eastern Michigan, but he made one thing clear after the game: he still believes Joe Rossi will sort it out.
Fitzgerald was visibly worked up before halftime, stopping to talk with the Big Ten Network crew and saying his team wasn’t playing the Spartan brand of football. The frustration was obvious on both sides of the ball, with neither unit meeting his standards in the first half.
The response after the break was much sharper. Michigan State’s defense, led by Rossi, tightened up and turned the second half into a different game.
Eastern Michigan had more than 100 rushing yards in the opening half, then finished with just 101 overall. The Eagles actually lost yards on the ground after halftime.
Noah Kim felt the pressure too. He was 7-for-9 at one point in the first half, but the Spartans kept getting to him and he finished 9-for-17.
His 16 completions produced only 118 yards, and Eastern Michigan’s lone touchdown came on Kim’s legs. Michigan State shut down the passing game and made life much tougher on the offense over the final 30 minutes.
Even with the defense’s rough patches, Fitzgerald didn’t sound like a coach ready to lose faith in his coordinator.
"Joe (Rossi) will get ‘em right, I have confidence in that."
That line said plenty. Fitzgerald’s postgame comments were critical of the unit, but not of Rossi himself. He believes the defense can regain its toughness and cut down on the missed tackles that became a problem against Eastern Michigan.
Rossi, hired by Jonathan Smith away from Minnesota, has already drawn plenty of attention and criticism since arriving. Fans expected a lot, and Saturday showed both sides of what he can bring.
The first half was messy, even if the scoreboard didn’t fully reflect it. Eastern Michigan was the tougher team at times, and Michigan State’s tackling was sloppy.
But the second half offered the kind of adjustment Fitzgerald wanted to see. Rossi’s defense clamped down and held Eastern Michigan scoreless after halftime.
That doesn’t erase the issues, and Fitzgerald knows this group still isn’t putting together complete four-quarter performances. Still, after two solid overall games, the Spartans showed enough in the second half to suggest the defensive fix is possible.
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Michigan States 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan did more than move the Spartans to 2-0 in 2026. It also gave the coaching staff a long look at a roster that was deep enough to keep rotating bodies on both sides of the ball, especially up front, where the offensive line shuffle continued to be part of the story.
Charles Taplin added his first collegiate touchdown to the mix, while several freshmen got their first non-special teams snaps in game action. The bigger long-term takeaway, though, may have come at nickelback, where a new competition is beginning to take shape and could become one of the more interesting depth-chart battles to follow as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
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Michigan States 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan gave first-year coach Pat Fitzgerald another clean step forward, but it also added a new layer to the conversation around the offense. The Spartans are 2-0, and while Alessio Milivojevic steadied himself after a slow start, the unit looked far more dynamic once the game opened up in the second half. Cam Edwards kept the ground game moving with a big day, showing how much easier things can look when the run game is setting the tone.
Cam Fancher also gave the offense a different rhythm as the backup quarterback, and that change of pace may be the part fans keep circling back to after a comfortable win. Fitzgerald has reasons to feel good about where the team is headed, but the way the quarterback rotation unfolded, paired with Edwards impact and Milivojevics uneven start, left just enough to wonder how this offense will look when the competition gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Finally Gave Fans A Reason For Real Optimism
Michigan State finally had a performance that gave its fan base something sturdier than hope to grab onto, even if it came against Eastern Michigan. The Spartans got more from their key playmakers on offense, with Charles Taplin emerging as a useful young target and Cam Edwards helping energize the ground game. After a stretch of uneven play, the broader point was hard to miss: the pieces looked more connected, and the offense showed signs it could carry some real weight.
The defense still left room for concern after giving up plenty of yardage in the first half, but it did respond better after intermission and added a forced fumble to the mix. That kind of uneven outing is hardly a finished product, yet it was enough to nudge the mood from frustration toward cautious optimism. For a fan base that has been waiting for a reason to believe, this was at least a small but meaningful step in that direction. [Read more 🡒]