Halloween may be the perfect backdrop for Michigan State’s season, because the Spartans have spent much of it looking like a trick from the outside while the deeper picture says something different.
On paper, the record is rough. Michigan State has dropped six straight, including five in a row in Big Ten play, and entered Saturday as the only conference team sitting at 0-5.
Maryland and Penn State were both 0-4 before their games. The Spartans also rank last in the Big Ten in points per game, and only Michigan has scored fewer total points overall, though the Wolverines have already had their bye.
Defensively, Michigan State has allowed the fourth-most points in the league, behind only Maryland, Rutgers and Purdue.
But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. The Spartans have been hammered by injuries all season, beginning in the opener with the loss of their best defender, Jordan Hall.
The absences have only piled up since then. Michigan State has played its last two games without its top four cornerbacks and top two linebackers.
Since Week 4, the Spartans also have been without their top skill-position player, running back Cam Edwards. Last week, they were forced to go without their top two quarterbacks as well.
That context matters, especially when you look at what happened before last week’s 18-point loss. Even while trying to win with two freshman quarterbacks who had never played before, Michigan State had started to show some real signs of life and was pushing toward its first conference win since last season.
The Spartans lost to Illinois and a ranked Northwestern team by a combined four points. Against Northwestern, they had a chance to win before a blocked field goal shut the door. It was the kind of ending that stings, but also the kind that suggests the gap is not as wide as the record makes it look.
In that sense, the season feels more like a treat than a trick. The losses are piling up, no question, but Michigan State is still grinding through a brutal stretch and finding moments of progress along the way. With a new head coach in place and more than 40 players gone through the transfer portal, this is a roster being stitched together on the fly.
The Spartans get a break this Halloween weekend, which probably comes as a welcome pause in a season that has already asked plenty of them. And next week brings another shot, this time in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines, where Michigan State will have a legitimate chance to chase its first conference victory.
In Other News...
Michigan Just Handed Spartans Fans Fresh Rivalry Ammo
A close win over Rutgers was supposed to be about settling things on the field, but Kyle Whittingham managed to stir the pot afterward with a few words that will travel well beyond one Saturday night. The Michigan coach said he is very interested in being part of the Michigan State rivalry, calling it not the biggest one, but a big one, a framing that is sure to catch the attention of Spartans fans who already know how quickly this matchup can harden into talking points.
Whittinghams comments have already drawn comparisons to former Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith and his own controversial remarks about the rivalry, adding another layer to a season that has not gone smoothly for Michigan fans. With dissatisfaction growing around Whittinghams performance and the teams rocky start, the rivalry chatter is landing at a time when every word feels magnified, and it gives Spartans supporters fresh material to keep in their back pocket the next time these programs cross paths. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Gets Another Rivalry Night Test Fans Dread
Michigan States next shot at Michigan comes with the kind of late kickoff that has become its own subplot in this rivalry. The Wolverines and Spartans are set for a 7:30 p.m. ET night game next weekend in Ann Arbor, and this one will stream on Peacock instead of airing on NBC, adding another layer to a matchup that already tends to draw plenty of attention from both fan bases.
The setting only sharpens the stakes for a series that has long tilted toward Michigan, which owns the historical edge and has won the last four meetings, all under the lights. With both programs now working under new coaches, the rivalry is entering another reset point, and for Spartans fans, the timing and the venue make this one feel like a familiar test with a fresh wrinkle. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Gets A Chance To Rewrite A Painful Big Ten Ending
Michigan State will get an immediate shot at turning the page on a frustrating Big Ten finish after the conference released the bracket and schedule for the 2026 Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans landed the No. 4 seed in the new eight-team field and open in the quarterfinals against No. 5 seed Washington, with the tournament beginning Wednesday at Energizer Park in St. Louis.
The format adds a fresh wrinkle to the race, since the title game is set for Nov. 13 at the home site of the highest remaining seed. For Michigan State, that means the path back to the leagues biggest stage starts with a familiar kind of pressure, one that offers a chance to rewrite how this Big Ten ending looks if the Spartans can handle their opening test. [Read more 🡒]