Michigan State’s Week 9 bye arrives with a little too much leftover damage for it to matter the way the Spartans needed.
Bye weeks are supposed to be a reset button, especially for teams that are bruised up and dragging through a rough patch. Michigan State does get a breather after being down about a dozen players last weekend against UCLA, including QB1 and RB1.
That part matters. But a week off can only do so much, and it certainly can’t erase what this season has become.
The bigger issue is timing. The Spartans are sitting in the middle of a six-game losing streak, and this break feels more like a delayed pause than a real lifeline. If the goal was to keep the bowl dream alive, this is the kind of bye that needed to show up a few weeks earlier.
There were multiple better spots for it. Before the Illinois game, for one, would have made a lot of sense.
Michigan State had already dropped three straight, but there was still a path back to .500. Then came the loss to Wisconsin, followed by a gritty trip to overtime against Illinois that ended with a botched 2-point conversion and a one-point defeat.
That would have been a natural place to catch your breath.
After that would have worked too. The Spartans were banged up and coming off what was probably their most emotional loss of the year.
Even a break before the Northwestern game would have helped. Instead, they had to keep grinding.
And if not then, after the Northwestern loss would have done the trick. Michigan State dropped a game it should have won, and Pat Fitzgerald’s former school left with the kind of result that stings for a while.
Now the bye comes after a sixth straight loss, with only four games left. That’s the reality.
The Spartans are still dealing with the fallout of a season that was supposed to have bowl hopes attached to it, but clearly won’t. This one has the feel of a fifth straight year coming up short.
Still, the back half of the schedule offers some possibilities.
Michigan State’s final four games are all matchups where the Spartans will at least have a chance. It starts with Michigan, a team that has disappointed plenty of its own fans.
Then comes an Oregon team that’s suddenly without Dante Moore and Jay Johnson calling the plays. After that, Washington brings its own quarterback questions, and Rutgers might be the weakest team left on the Big Ten slate.
At 2-6, “winnable” is a generous word. But there is a path here. If Michigan State can finish 2-2 down the stretch, that’s a result most fans would probably take without complaint.
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Oregons midseason shakeup adds another layer to a matchup Michigan State already had circled. Dan Lanning moved on from his offensive coordinator after the loss to Illinois, and the Ducks have now turned to former Spartans coordinator Jay Johnson in that role on a temporary basis. For Michigan State, it is the kind of storyline that makes a late-season trip a little more personal, because the staff on the other sideline now includes a familiar face from East Lansing.
The timing matters, too, because Oregon is trying to steady itself after a rough stretch that has included three losses and the season-ending injury to quarterback Dante Moore. Johnson stepping in gives the Ducks a different look offensively at a moment when they need answers fast, and Michigan State will get a chance to see how that transition settles in before it plays out on the field. [Read more 🡒]
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According to a report by Justin Spiro, that shift could show up in a major way this offseason, with Michigan State planning to spend in the high-$30 million range on its football roster. If that number holds, the Spartans would be putting themselves in the top five for Big Ten spending, a sign that the school is trying to speed up its rebuild rather than wait for it to happen gradually. The question now is whether that investment can translate into the kind of immediate competitive jump the program has been searching for. [Read more 🡒]
Jack Velling Reignites A Familiar Michigan State What-Might-Have Debate
Jack Vellings NFL path has already taken a familiar turn for Michigan State fans who remember the promise and the inconsistency from his two seasons in East Lansing. The undrafted rookie tight end landed with the Falcons after the preseason, only to be released, leaving him back in the market for another practice-squad opportunity as he tries to keep his pro career moving.
For Spartans followers, Velling is one of those players who naturally triggers the what-might-have-been conversation. His college stint offered flashes without fully settling into the kind of breakout run that changes a programs view of a player, and now his next stop will say plenty about whether there is still untapped NFL value waiting to be found. [Read more 🡒]