Conference play arrives with Michigan State needing more than a good feeling. The Spartans have already shown enough to suggest there’s something to work with under Pat Fitzgerald, but Saturday’s home date with Nebraska will say a lot more about where this team is headed than anything that happened at No. 3 Notre Dame.
MSU walked out of South Bend with some credibility after playing better than expected, especially considering the way the Spartans have fared there in recent years. Fitzgerald has also picked up support by brushing aside the idea of “moral victories.”
Still, the conversation changes now that Big Ten play is here. Nebraska may have the more talented roster, but East Lansing gives Michigan State a real path to a statement win.
For that to happen, Alessio Milivojevic has to bounce back. Notre Dame gave the quarterback his first career multi-interception game, and both picks hurt.
On the first, he stared down Rodney Bullard Jr. and then underthrew the deep ball, allowing Luke Talich to make the interception fairly easily. The second came with pressure in his face and a must-throw situation, but Chrishon McCray had a window before Adon Shuler closed it off and Milivojevic delivered too late.
That said, the mistakes weren’t all on him. Michigan State’s receivers were covered up almost everywhere downfield, with Bullard’s 53-yard catch standing out as the rare exception. If Milivojevic looked like he was hanging onto the ball, part of that was because he didn’t have many clean answers.
Nebraska’s secondary should make life difficult again. The Cornhuskers were third in pass defense last season and are sitting in the top 10 this year, even if the competition has been light. Starting cornerback Andrew Marshall has been especially stingy, giving up just 10 yards on 11 targets, according to Pro Football Focus.
The challenge for Michigan State is that Nebraska has not been tested much. The Huskers handled Ohio, Bowling Green and FCS North Dakota, but that kind of non-conference slate doesn’t tell you much about how a team reacts when a Big Ten road game turns tense and the stakes climb.
That’s where MSU may have an opening. The Spartans already took on a much tougher non-conference opponent and seemed to handle the pressure reasonably well against Notre Dame.
Nebraska, by contrast, still hasn’t had to find out how it responds when momentum swings the other way. The Huskers are 7-12 in one-score games during the Matt Rhule era, though they went 4-2 in those games last year.
Michigan State’s defense probably needs a takeaway to tilt this game. The Spartans have only two through three games: Kenny Soares Jr.’s interception against Toledo and Charles Brantley’s forced fumble against EMU.
Even so, it never really felt like the unit was close to stealing one at Notre Dame. Nebraska has been careful with the ball too, turning it over only once so far.
The bigger defensive issue for MSU has been explosive plays. Toledo hit on a pair of long touchdowns in the opener, and Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr found room over the top twice last Saturday for big gains.
Nebraska has the kind of playmakers that can expose that weakness. Jacory Barney Jr. leads the Huskers with 210 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and Michigan State hasn’t seen many receivers who can do what he does after the catch.
He can work underneath and turn a routine completion into something much bigger. He can also threaten deep when needed.
The Huskers also have Nyziah Hunter back in the mix. He led Nebraska with 617 receiving yards in 2025, and while his start this season has been quiet - five catches for 45 yards - it doesn’t feel like that lasts forever.
Then there’s Jamal Rule, the true freshman who Michigan State recruited for a time. He already has 411 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns in three games. Rule isn’t the fastest back on the field, but he’s plenty quick enough to break one, and his patience stands out for a freshman.
In Other News...
Izzo Is Betting On A Michigan State Formula Fans Know Well
Tom Izzo is once again leaning into a roster-building approach Michigan State fans know well, putting more stock in high school recruiting than in a heavy reliance on the transfer portal. This seasons group reflects that familiar formula, with the Spartans adding one transfer alongside a highly ranked recruiting class as they try to strike the right balance between youthful upside and a little bit of seasoned help.
The real test starts to come quickly, with Michigan State opening exhibition play on Oct. 2 against Incarnate Word. It is the kind of early look that can reveal how smoothly the pieces fit together, and for Izzo, it is another chance to show whether patience and player development can still carry as much weight in todays game as portal shopping does across the sport. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Faces Early Depth Concerns Before Nebraska Opener
Michigan State heads into Saturdays Big Ten opener against Nebraska carrying some early roster uncertainty, and the availability report already gives the Spartans a thinner margin than they would prefer at this stage of the season. Brady Pretzlaff and Jay Coyne have both been ruled out, and they are joined by four other players who will not be available at Spartan Stadium.
Three more Spartans are listed as questionable, leaving the staff to manage depth issues before a conference game that arrives quickly and with little room to ease into it. The matchup is set for a Big Ten Network broadcast, and for Michigan State, the bigger storyline may be less about the opponent than about how much of the roster can actually make it through the opener. [Read more 🡒]
Tom Izzo Sounds Different About This Michigan State Team
Michigan State has opened practice for the 2026-27 season, and with Tom Izzo entering his 32nd year on the bench, the start of another campaign naturally comes with the usual mix of curiosity and caution. This time, though, Izzo sounded especially encouraged as he discussed the roster, player development and what he sees taking shape during the early stages of preparation.
The Spartans have the kind of depth that can make a preseason feel different, and Izzo pointed to the way freshmen are being brought along as part of that equation. He also singled out Jeremy Fears and Dan Bartholomae, part of a wider group he believes gives Michigan State a real foundation, though the exact shape of the rotation is still something this team will have to sort out in practice. [Read more 🡒]