Michigan State’s offensive line did enough to put the Spartans in position to steal a win against Northwestern. It just didn’t finish the job.
With 3:29 left and the game tied, Nick Sheridan turned the final sequence over to the big men and asked them to do the one thing that can bury a defense late: lean on it, drain the clock and set up the winning kick. Instead, MSU managed only one first down on four rushing attempts, picked up an illegal snap penalty, and watched Liam Boyd’s 33-yard field-goal try get blocked. Northwestern then had just enough time to drive into range for the winning kick with two seconds left in a 24-21 loss, Michigan State’s fifth straight defeat.
That ending hung over practice Tuesday, where center Trent Fraley was blunt about the missed chance.
“It definitely hurts,” Fraley said after practice Tuesday, Oct. 20.
“They let it be up to us, and we just didn’t go up to what our standard was. We didn’t do our job to the best of our ability.
“It’s definitely something that we’re working on now. And we just want to continue to improve so whenever we’re in that situation again, we can execute.”
The Spartans are 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten heading into Saturday’s trip to Pasadena, where they’ll meet No. 10 UCLA at the Rose Bowl. The nationally televised game on CBS kicks off at 3:30 p.m.
That’s a different kind of test for an offensive line that has shown real progress, even if the results haven’t caught up yet. UCLA is allowing 16.2 points per game, ranking 21st nationally, and has given up just 25 total points over its last three wins. The Bruins are also giving up only 292.3 total yards per game and 97.7 rushing yards per game, both 20th in the country, and their 26.6% third-down defense ranks fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
On the other side of the ball, UCLA’s offense is controlling games with time of possession. Its 34:01 average ranks fourth nationally, which means Michigan State’s offense may not get many clean chances if it wants to make noise in this one.
“They do a ton up front, and they create a lot of communication, a lot of pressure, a lot of movement. … They’re excellent,” offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said Tuesday of the UCLA defense.
“They’re very well-coached. They have a great scheme.
They have a great demeanor - I think they play defensive football the right way.”
Sheridan said he was pleased with the pass protection the line gave quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, but he also came away from the Northwestern game focused on the small margins in the run game. That showed up most clearly on the final drive, and it showed up earlier too, including the pressure that led to one of the game’s biggest defensive swings.
Without starting left tackle Ben Murawski, Michigan State allowed just one sack in the first quarter. But Rakeem Johnson, who moved from right tackle to fill in for Murawski, was beaten off the left edge.
Milivojevic didn’t feel the rush in time, was hit while winding up, and fumbled. Northwestern recovered deep in MSU territory, though the Spartans’ defense limited the damage to a field goal.
Even with that mistake, the line helped MSU post a respectable ground total. The Spartans ran for 89 yards, with Jaziun Patterson accounting for 72 of them. They had only two negative-yardage plays: the sack on Milivojevic and a 1-yard loss by Marvis Parrish.
Still, the production didn’t translate into enough first downs. Michigan State finished with 15, went 3 for 12 on third down and 2 for 4 on fourth down.
“I think during the game, we executed our run scheme really efficiently,” Johnson said Tuesday.
The Spartans also got a shot at redemption when Northwestern tried a fake punt and failed, thanks to pressure from Trey Lisle and a pass breakup by DeJae White. That gave MSU the ball at the Wildcats’ 28-yard line with 3:29 left and a chance to close the game on its own terms.
Instead, the final series unraveled. Patterson gained 12 yards on his first two carries before the 2-minute timeout, then added three more and was stopped for no gain as Northwestern burned its final timeouts.
After a timeout, Fraley was flagged for an illegal snap. On third-and-12, Patterson picked up three yards, and with 1:06 remaining, Pat Fitzgerald used his final timeout.
Boyd’s kick was then blocked.
“The false start on third-and-7 was detrimental. And then we had poor execution,” Sheridan said.
“We didn’t execute well at the end of the game, just being frank with you. … We were completely aligned on what we were trying to do.
And so if you run the ball and get 3 1/2 three [plays] in a row, you’re gonna get a first down. We could’ve bled the clock and kicked it right at the buzzer.
“But you can’t get a false start. You can’t do that in that moment. And we didn’t block those pictures clean enough.”
Michigan State’s loss to Northwestern came a week after it fought back before losing in overtime to Illinois, so the latest collapse hit hard. But with five games still left, Johnson said the line’s growth has given the group something to build on.
“Of course it’s tough. As a football player, everyone wants to win, for sure,” Johnson said.
“But as you guys have seen, we’re getting really close. … We see how close we are, so it’s really pushing us to just get that one extra step and go win some games out there.”
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Cam Fancher is also out, which leaves Michigan State in a bind if Milivojevic cannot go. That could push true freshman Kayd Coffman or second-year quarterback Leo Hannan into the spotlight, and Coffman in particular brings intrigue after arriving as a highly rated member of the 2026 class despite limited game experience. [Read more 🡒]
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Michigan State heads into its trip to UCLA dealing with a familiar kind of midseason uncertainty, and this one starts on offense. Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and running back Jaziun Patterson are both listed as questionable, leaving the Spartans to sort through key decisions at the game's most important position and in the backfield before taking the field.
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Michigan State Heads To UCLA With Its Offense Suddenly In Doubt
Michigan State heads west for a matchup with UCLA carrying more uncertainty than it expected, and the biggest question sits right at the heart of the offense. Starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic and running back Jaziun Patterson are both listed as questionable, leaving the Spartans to navigate the kind of pregame uncertainty that can change how a staff plans the entire trip.
The injury report also leaves room for concern elsewhere, with left tackle Ben Murawski and linebacker Brady Pretzlaff among the players listed as questionable, while several others on both sides of the ball have already been ruled out. Michigan State is set to keep releasing updated injury reports leading up to the game, so the picture could still shift before kickoff, but for now the Spartans are walking into this one with a lot still unsettled. [Read more 🡒]