MSU had its chance, then watched it vanish in a flash.
A turnover swung the game at Spartan Stadium, and Northwestern made sure the Wolverines paid for it. The Wildcats followed with four plays of 10 yards or more, marched into position, and knocked through the game-winning field goal to escape with a 24-21 victory. For MSU, it was another finish that slipped away in the final moments.
That made it two straight weeks the Spartans were left staring at the same painful outcome. Seven days earlier, the offense came up short on a two-point conversion.
This time, special teams was the culprit. Different routes, same ending.
“Two weeks in a row now, we've ended up on the short end of games that you know we've got to coach better to be able to get over the hump to win those games,” head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We'll take a look at a lot of plays to date that were missed opportunities in all three phases.”
The record keeps telling the story. MSU has had real opportunities to win its last two games and let both get away on the final play. The pattern is hard to miss now, because the Spartans have been right there - and still walked off empty.
“I get paid to win, and we're not winning, so it starts and ends with me,” Fitzgerald said.
The mood after the game matched the result. Players, coaches and reporters all seemed to absorb the same stunned silence, and the Spartans’ body language said plenty without needing much explanation. Five straight losses will do that to a team, especially when the last two have ended with such blunt finality.
Sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic said the latest loss carries the familiar sting that comes with close games gone wrong.
“Every loss stinks,” Milivojevic said. “Obviously, a close one like this stings a little more, but every loss, you never want to lose a game.”
Milivojevic also framed the response the way leaders in a slump often do: keep working, keep preparing, and keep pushing toward the next one.
“I know no one's gonna put their head down and not stop working,” Milivojevic said. “So I know we're gonna go back in and work and prepare to go win the next game.”
Still, the bigger issue is becoming impossible to ignore. MSU keeps getting close enough to win, only to fail at the finish.
For Fitzgerald and a team trying to rebuild, the job is no longer just getting into position. It’s closing.
MSU is now 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. The Spartans head across the country next to face No.
12 UCLA, which is 5-0 and 3-0 in the Big Ten. Kickoff time has not been set.
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