After a game delay due to the FAA groundings, Washington came into Spartan Stadium and picked up a win over Michigan State.
Michigan State had a prime opportunity to capitalize on momentum from their win over Michigan last Saturday. Everything was in play for them to pull off another upset and begin a winning streak. Washington arrived in East Lansing at 2am after the FAA grounding had been lifted and the game was delayed from 4:15 to 5:30pm ET. Traveling from west coast to east coast on its own is a tough play, but with all the travel restrictions and how late the Huskies arrived, things were lining up for MSU. Would the Huskies be ready to go? Would Michigan State avoid an emotional hangover? Well the Spartans avoided the hangover of the Michigan win, but struggled offensively in a 21-14 loss to Washington.
Michigan State started the game off firing on all cylinders as the offense pushed the ball down the field for a seven-play 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game. Alessio Milivojevic hit two big throws on the opening drive to get the ball down the field and Carson Gulker topped it off in the end zone with the wildcat formation. Michigan State forced a missed field goal on the next possession as the defense was playing extremely well, bend do not break. The defense had an all-around amazing game as other than two big plays to Chris Lawson, the Huskies were not moving the ball as effectively as they could have.
The big difference maker in the game was the injury to quarterback Alessio Milivojevic on the Spartans’ second touchdown drive of the game. Milivojevic took a hard hit on a scramble attempt and remained down for a while before being helped off by trainers. Cam Fancher had just returned off of the injury report and played the rest of the game for the Spartans. He completed the drive with a touchdown pass to Bryson Williams to tie the game at the half 14-14. After that drive, Fancher could not lead the offense to get any points in the second half as they threw away at least six points. Liam Boyd missed a 49-yard field goal just right as it was a tough kick. It looked good on the field until it showed it had just gone right past the upright. Michigan State also had the ball in field goal range and threatened to score until Fancher tried to play hero ball. Fancher escaped a sack and instead of going down, he threw the ball up in the air right into the hands of a Washington defender. The defense could not hold on forever as the offense continued to sputter without Milivojevic in the game. Demond Williams Jr. eventually found Chris Lawson for another big game which led to a Jayden Limar run to put them up 21-14. MSU had a chance to tie the game late as the offense was finally moving the ball. Up until Carson Gulker fumbled the football in Washington territory and the Huskies recovered to seal the game.
Michigan State did not have the emotional hangover a lot of people predicted they might have, but without Milivojevic the offense was anemic. They could not generate anything to maintain momentum despite the defense having an excellent outing. A missed opportunity for Michigan State as they left at least six points on the board in the loss.