Michigan State hosted Illinois in their homecoming game on Saturday, and while they did not come away with the win, there were definitely steps in the right direction.
Katin Houser returned to East Lansing on Saturday, October 10, for Michigan State’s homecoming game. Only this time, he was on the opposite side of the field, playing for the Illinois Fighting Illini. They were coming off of a loss to a team in Purdue that had not won a Big Ten game in three years.
This was Michigan State’s opportunity to get Houser and a down Illinois team and rebound after back-to-back bad performances against Nebraska and Wisconsin. While the Spartans dug themselves an early hole and got down 17-0, they stayed in the game and fought back. They could have laid down like they did against Wisconsin, but the defense kept trying, the offense began to click with Jaziun Patterson running all over, and Alessio Milivojevic looking the best he’s looked since the end of last season. While there are no moral victories in losing games, the positives for Michigan State outweigh the negatives.
Due to this week’s performance against the Illinois Fighting Illini, the confidence meter is moving back to a four from a two. This performance was the best Michigan State has looked since the two early games against Mid-American Conference opponents. In the second half of this game, I would say they looked even better than they did in their wins.
They got down early and did not give up. The offense got going with a big run from Jaziun Patterson, and Alessio Milivojevic was accurate and took shots, moving the ball down the field. The defense recorded an interception against Katin Houser to set the offense up with a short field and completely flip the game on its head.
After allowing another Illinois touchdown, the Spartans scored once more and called a surprise onside kick that they recovered but was called back due to MSU being offside. Which was the wrong call after video review, but it could not be overturned. Even after that demoralizing call, the Spartans defense got a stop, got the ball back to the offense, and they drove down the field and scored the game-tying touchdown.
Even though the call did not go their way, the surprise onside kick call was a gutsy move that should have paid off. It was a play that told me that this regime is going to be different from previous regimes. That Pat Fitzgerald is not just going to stand pat and watch the game go by; he is going to take teams off-guard and go for the jugular.
He did the same thing in overtime when MSU got the ball last after Illinois scored a touchdown. Michigan State scored what could have been the game-tying touchdown, but instead of extending the game, Fitzgerald wanted to go for the win. They ran a direct snap to Marvis Parrish, who flipped it to Alessio, where he threw it short of the end zone.
While the play call did not work out and MSU came up short, the gutsy call to go for the win is something Jonathan Smith never would have done in his time at MSU. It reminds me of Dan Campbell’s first year in Detroit. The roster was bad; people knew they were not going to lose games, and Campbell coached like there was nothing to lose and everything to gain. Going for it on fourth down, taking two-point conversions, and going for surprise onside kicks during games.
That kind of mentality worked for Campbell as the Lions got better and better each year. Michigan State could be in the same boat, where they will not win too much this year, but if they remain competitive and make gutsy calls like this, I think they’ll only continue to get better. Plus, it helps that Purdue dominated Minnesota on Saturday night, so maybe Purdue is not as bad as they seemed earlier in the year.
Michigan State still has a long way to go, but if they can carry this second-half performance into next week’s game, then they will have a shot at the upset. Pat Fitzgerald seems to be different than anybody they have had over the past couple of years leading this team. His goal now has to be to stack up an upset win or two and continue to play complementary football.
Sure, the injuries keep setting them back, but it is a part of the game they will have to work with. They looked good for a majority of that game, and there is hope they can carry it to the Northwestern game next week.
