Pat Fitzgerald had a tie in hand Saturday night, but he gambled everything on a two-point conversion in overtime, and it blew up in Michigan State’s face. Instead of kicking the extra point to force a second overtime against Illinois, Fitzgerald sent the offense back out after scoring, only for quarterback Alessio Milivojevic’s pass to tight end Jayden Savoury to fall incomplete. Just like that, Illinois left Spartan Stadium with a shocking 38-37 win, leaving Michigan State at a brutal 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten.
The Fight Back Was Real, Then The Wheels Fell Off
The Spartans actually put up a massive fight to even get to overtime. They were down 23-7 in the third quarter! Safety Devin Vaught got his first interception as a Spartan, returning it 37 yards and sparking the whole comeback. Not only was it their only forced turnover, but it also knocked Illinois starting quarterback Katin Houser out of the game, forcing them to use backup Michael Clayton II. Jaziun Patterson immediately capitalized with an 11-yard rushing touchdown. Patterson had a monster game, his best as a Spartan, piling up 119 yards from scrimmage , 93 on the ground and 26 through the air. He accounted for four of Michigan State’s five touchdowns, including his first collegiate receiving touchdown and first game with multiple scores. Even Alessio Milivojevic showed some life, throwing for two touchdowns, including a 6-yarder to Patterson. He completed 22 of 26 passes for 196 yards, an 84.6 percent completion rate, his highest of the season. The offense was rolling!
But Man, The Defense and Bad Luck Are Killing Them
You can’t come back like that and then still lose. While the offense found a spark, the defense was just getting gashed. They managed zero sacks and only one tackle for loss, which is even worse than their two tackles for loss and zero sacks against Wisconsin last week. It’s impossible to stop anyone without pressure. And the injuries? Forget about it. They were already missing three cornerbacks and a linebacker coming into the game. Then during the game, Charles Brantley went down, adding to the cornerback woes, and linebackers Jordan Hall, Brady Pretzlaff, and Dion Crawford also got hurt, forcing third-stringers into action. It’s an absolute revolving door. And if the two-point call wasn’t enough, they also recovered a Liam Boyd squib kick in the fourth quarter, trailing 31-24 with under eight minutes left, only for Samson Gash to be ruled offside. Replay clearly showed Gash was onside, and Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira even said on the broadcast they should have had possession. That’s a brutal break.
Fitzgerald said Monday he wouldn’t back down from being aggressive, but when you’re 2-4 and 0-3 in conference, those aggressive calls hit different. Michigan State is now looking at a long road ahead, with every single game from here on out feeling like a must-win just to salvage something. It’s going to be interesting to see how they bounce back from this kind of gut punch.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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