A blocked field goal in the final minute and a last march down the field from Northwestern were enough to leave Michigan State empty-handed in a 24-21 loss that felt every bit as close as the score suggested.
For most of the afternoon, the Spartans matched a ranked Wildcats team punch for punch in East Lansing. Michigan State came out swinging early, going for it on fourth down three times in the first quarter alone and setting a tone that carried through a gritty, physical game. The stakes were clear, too: Northwestern arrived as the No. 25 team in the country and a 7.5-point road favorite, but that did not stop the Spartans from standing their ground.
The finish, though, belonged to Northwestern.
Michigan State took over at the Wildcats’ 28-yard line with three minutes left after Northwestern failed to convert a fake punt deep in Spartan territory. The Spartans worked the clock and lined up for what could have been a go-ahead field goal with about a minute remaining. Instead, Northwestern broke through with a huge special teams play, blocking the kick and keeping the game tied.
Michigan State had already blocked a field goal earlier in the game, but that play came with plenty of football still ahead. This one arrived with the result hanging by a thread.
That gave Aidan Chiles the ball back, and he delivered on the final possession for Northwestern, putting the finishing touch on a game that had gone back and forth all afternoon.
Michigan State never folded, but it ran out of answers when it mattered most.
Even in defeat, there was plenty to like about the Spartans’ performance. The defense was missing its top four cornerbacks and top two linebackers, yet it still held up well, producing four sacks and making Northwestern work for nearly every yard. The tackling was sharp, the coverage was tight, and the group gave Michigan State a real chance to win.
The offense moved the ball, too. Alessio Milivojevic had a few misses, including overthrows to open receivers, but he still gave the Spartans an encouraging performance and helped keep drives alive.
At the same time, Michigan State left points on the field. The aggressive approach that kept the Spartans in the game also came with a cost, and those missed chances mattered in a contest decided by three points. It raises the obvious question: Fitzgerald wants to push the envelope on fourth down, but at what point does that aggressiveness become costly to the team's chances of winning?
There was still plenty of “meat left on the bones,” as Fitzgerald put it, after a game that showed both progress and painful missed opportunities.
Fitzgerald fell short in his first game against his alma mater, and Michigan State was left with another crushing ending just one week after its heartbreaking loss to Illinois. The defeat dropped the Spartans to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play, extending their losing streak to five straight.
Next up is a trip to Los Angeles, California, to face the ranked UCLA Bruins. Michigan State’s margin for error keeps getting smaller, and the Spartans need to turn these close calls into wins before the season drifts any further away.
In Other News...
Michigan State Just Entered A Big Ten Recruiting Fight Up Front
Michigan State has added another name to its board up front, extending an offer to Illinois high school standout Ben Coleman, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound hybrid tight end and blocker whose recruiting profile has already put him on the radar of several programs. Coleman is viewed as one of the more highly rated prospects in his state and nationally, which makes this the kind of battle the Spartans have to stay active in if they want to keep pace in the Big Ten trenches.
What makes Coleman especially interesting is the way his game blends size with versatility, giving him a profile that could fit a few different offensive roles depending on how a staff wants to use him. With other schools involved and his recruitment still unfolding, Michigan State is now part of a competition that figures to keep growing as more programs press their case for one of the regions more intriguing blockers. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Suddenly Needs Unsung Spartans To Step Up Vs Northwestern
Michigan State is heading into its matchup with Northwestern with the kind of lineup uncertainty that forces depth pieces into the spotlight. With injuries affecting several spots, the Spartans will need more than their headline names to hold up, and that puts added pressure on players like running back Jaziun Patterson and the offensive line tandem of Rakeem Johnson and Robert Wright Jr. in a game where every clean snap and steady assignment matters.
On the other side of the ball, the margin for error looks just as thin. Defensive end Kenny Soares Jr. and cornerbacks Jeremiah Favorite and KJ Deriso are among the players who may have to absorb bigger roles, and Michigan State needs that next wave of Spartans to look ready quickly. The challenge now is whether those unsung players can stabilize the depth chart in time to keep the matchup from turning into a test of survival. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Showed 2 Encouraging Signs In A Brutal Northwestern Loss
For much of Saturday, Michigan State had enough going on to make the loss sting even more. The Spartans hung with No. 25 Northwestern deep into a close game, and there were real signs that the program is starting to sort out some problems. The defense generated multiple sacks, with Anelu Lafaele, Ben Roberts and Eli Coenen all getting in on the pressure, while Coenen also came through with a blocked field goal that kept the game within reach.
The offense also showed a little more life under Nick Sheridan, whose playcalling helped Michigan State move the ball more consistently than it has at times this season. Even with limited talent, the Spartans found enough rhythm to stay alive into the final stretch before the game turned on a blocked potential go-ahead kick and a late Northwestern field goal. It was still a brutal loss, but for a team trying to find traction, the performances on both sides offered a small bit of encouragement to carry forward. [Read more 🡒]