Michigan State’s offense comes into this matchup looking a lot more like a survival act than a full-fledged attack.
Pat Fitzgerald’s first season in East Lansing has already been shaped by injuries and a six-game skid, with last week’s 15-6 win over Michigan finally snapping the slide. That victory came without the Spartans’ top three running backs or their leading tight end, and they still managed to beat their rival without scoring a touchdown.
It was also their first conference win of the season. Now they bring in a familiar play caller in offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, who coached Washington’s tight ends in 2022 and 2023 before following Kalen DeBoer to Alabama.
The quarterback is third-year starter Alessio Milivojevic, who kept the job after the coaching change and returned against Michigan after missing the UCLA game with an injury. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 188 yards in that game.
Earlier in the year, he was sharp in the two non-conference wins, but since then he has looked ordinary. He’s accurate underneath and has protected the ball well, throwing just three interceptions all season, but he also tends to hold the ball too long while waiting for something to open up.
That has helped lead to 19 sacks in Michigan State’s first six games. Against Nebraska, Sheridan dialed up the play-action shot he wanted and Rodney Bullard Jr. was open on a crosser, but Milivojevic never let it go and ended up fumbling when he was taken down.
Still, the arm talent is obvious. He can drive the ball and throw a deep pass that looks beautiful when it connects.
The backfield was supposed to be a strength, at least on paper, but the Spartans have been hit hard there too. UConn transfer Cam Edwards, who ran for 1,240 yards last season, was lost for the year in September.
Iowa transfer Jaziun Patterson stepped in and played well, including four total touchdowns against Illinois, but he has missed the last two games. Marvis Parrish went down on his second carry at UCLA.
That left Brandon Tullis to handle the load against Michigan, and he responded with 25 carries for 86 yards. He’s the biggest back on the roster and is built for short-yardage, between-the-tackles work.
At receiver, Chrishon McCray leads the group with 35 catches for 381 yards and is Milivojevic’s go-to target on third down. Bullard has 22 catches for 253 yards, and Fredrick Moore has 22 receptions for 230 yards and two touchdowns.
Even so, there isn’t a true field-stretcher in the bunch who forces defenses to back off. Tight end Jayden Savoury has been one of the brighter spots with 29 catches for 271 yards, though he also missed last week.
Up front, Michigan State rebuilt its offensive line through the portal, bringing in left tackle Ben Murawski from UConn, Nick Sharpe from South Carolina and Trent Fraley from North Dakota State. The group is better than last year’s line, but that’s a low bar. Pass protection has been uneven, and the run game is averaging barely three yards per carry.
Sheridan’s system has some familiar DNA for Washington fans. It leans on play action, pre-snap motion and a quarterback-friendly passing game, with roots in the offenses he worked under DeBoer at Indiana, Washington and Alabama.
The issue is that Michigan State doesn’t have the personnel to run it the way he wants. The Spartans have been one of the least explosive offenses in the Power Four all season, with the fewest 20-plus-yard plays through the first half of the year.
They can move the ball in small chunks and sit around the middle of the country in success rate, but the drive usually dies once the field shrinks because explosive plays are so hard to find.
That was the story against Michigan, too. Fitzgerald and Sheridan leaned into the grind, running the ball, throwing short and bleeding the clock.
Their best series started at their own 1-yard line and turned into a 17-play, 79-yard march that ate 10:41 and ended with a field goal. That’s the blueprint when it works: keep the ball, avoid mistakes and trust the defense to carry the night.
For Washington, the warning is pretty clear. Michigan State can absolutely make a game ugly, and this is an offense that is averaging just 16.5 points per game in conference play. The Spartans are playing without most of their best skill talent, and they’ve already shown they’re willing to win with field goals and patience.
The path to slowing them down starts with first- and second-down run defense, then forcing Milivojevic into third-and-long. That’s where he has struggled most, and it’s where Washington has its best chance to get after the quarterback.
If the Huskies tackle cleanly on the underneath stuff, Michigan State shouldn’t have many chances to create explosives. The one danger is that Milivojevic’s deep ball finds a crease and turns into a coverage bust, but the Spartans haven’t really shown that consistently this season.
If Washington can get ahead early, this Michigan State offense doesn’t look built to chase. It hasn’t put together a long scoring drive against a good defense since September. The real threat is a low-scoring game that turns into a field goal battle.
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