Michigan State had Northwestern where it wanted it, twice in a row, and twice in a row the Spartans let the finish line slip away.
After another crushing late collapse, the blame lands first and hardest on the coaching staff. The players put together 59 minutes of a solid plan and enough production to win, but the final minutes unraveled because of a string of questionable decisions. In that sense, this one really does feel like a coaching loss.
The most obvious misstep came on the last offensive stretch, when Michigan State needed one first down to nearly lock it up. Instead, the Spartans went run, run, run up the middle, then took a costly illegal snap penalty on third-and-7. Even after that, the final play was another run to the same spot, with the ball ending up on the right hash.
That left Liam Boyd trying to salvage the moment with his first non-PAT kick of the day. It didn’t last long. Northwestern got a trio of leaping defenders up and swatted it away.
From there, the door was open for Northwestern, and Aidan Chiles walked through it. He picked apart the defense with short gains and flipped the field in a minute, setting up the game-winning field goal. That sequence goes back on Joe Rossi and the staff.
Rossi’s defense played well for most of the night, but the last minute was a mess. Michigan State had all its timeouts and could have used them to reset, yet the Spartans never looked fully organized when the game was on the line. At some point, there’s going to be a hard conversation to have there.
The defense wasn’t the only issue, either. Michigan State’s execution on offense left points on the field too.
Alessio Milivojevic had a decent stat line - 19-of-30 for 213 yards and two touchdowns - but he also missed chances that could have put the game away much earlier. He left Rod Bullard Jr. with a walk-in touchdown on fourth down in the first half, then missed him again later in the second half after Bullard had beaten his man downfield. Those are the kind of throws that turn a close win into a comfortable one.
Milivojevic got a little too amped and overshot some chances. That hurt Michigan State, too.
There was plenty to like for most of the game. The tackling held up, which was a pleasant surprise, and the Spartans were in control for much of the second half. But once the game got tight late, the defense struggled with dump-offs and short throws, and the whole operation lost its edge.
So yes, the bulk of the blame belongs with the coaches for another late-game meltdown. But the final result was also shaped by a defense that lost its grip in the closing minute and a quarterback who missed too many chances to close it out.
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Michigan State Let A Winnable Game Slip Away In Brutal Fashion
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The loss will sting even more because Michigan State had put itself in position to finish, only to see the ending break the other way. Northwestern coach David Braun later acknowledged a failed fake punt call late in the game, but the Wildcats still found a way to regroup and execute when it mattered, with quarterback Aidan Chiles accounting for 226 passing yards and 67 rushing yards plus a touchdown. [Read more 🡒]