EAST LANSING – Free Press sports writer Rainer Sabin tackles three questions after Michigan State football's 24-21 loss against Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Spartan Stadium.
Was Pat Fitzgerald’s daredevil strategy the right one?
Following the Spartans’ victory over Toledo in the season opener, Fitzgerald, in his first season at MSU, told reporters he was not afraid to take risks.
“Scared money,” he said, “doesn’t make money.”
That mantra governs Fitzgerald’s aggressive approach. He wants to push the envelope. Never was that more apparent than Saturday, when Fitzgerald repeatedly went for it on fourth down, starting with the opening drive.
That first decision backfired.
But that didn’t deter Fitzgerald. He kept rolling the dice, and the gambles soon paid off.
On MSU’s third possession, Fitzgerald
twice eschewed a field goal attempt in the red zone as he hunted for a bigger prize. The Spartans converted both times, including a go-for-broke opportunity at the 3-yard line that resulted in a touchdown run by Alessio Milivojevic.
Entering Saturday, MSU ranked in the top 20 of the Football Bowl Subdivision in fourth-down attempts. They went for it four times against Northwestern. Considering the Spartans are now 9-31 in their past 40 Big Ten games, a convincing argument can be made that MSU doesn’t have much to lose by taking these chances.
In fact, Fitzgerald should be applauded for doing so in a game the Spartans were expected to lose.
Who was the better quarterback Saturday?
The beginning of the end for Aidan Chiles’ star-crossed MSU tenure came almost a year ago, last November. Chiles was benched following a loss to Michigan. He played one snap over the final four games, as Milivojevic replaced him as the team’s starter.
Not long after coach Jonathan Smith was fired, Chiles entered the transfer portal and eventually landed at Northwestern.
In his first five games with the Wildcats, the first team out of the top 25 in the coaches poll, Chiles looked reborn. Known for being turnover-prone when he was running MSU’s offense, Chiles had yet to throw an interception this season. He entered Saturday with the sixth-best passer rating and a 71.2% completion rate that was the 11th-highest in the FBS.
But on Saturday, he was merely ordinary.
Milivojevic, for much of the game, outperformed him.
Chiles accounted for just one touchdown while Milivojevic produced three. The first was a 3-yard run on fourth-and-1. The second was a 32-yard deep shot to Bryson Williams, who was running a fade. The third was a pinpoint, 53-yard strike down the seam to Chrishon McCray.
But Chiles got the last word, as he spearheaded an eight-play, 64-yard drive to set up the winning field goal.
How crushing was this loss for Pat Fitzgerald?
Fitzgerald was once the face of Northwestern football.
He was an All-American linebacker there in the 1990s and the Wildcats’ steely coach for 17 years, leading the program that was once a laughingstock on a sustained run of success that including 10 bowl appearances. But a hazing scandal led to his ouster in 2023.
Fitzgerald is now rebuilding his career in East Lansing, and it has been a tough slog thus far. But on Saturday, he was on the cusp of achieving the biggest breakthrough of his fledgling MSU tenure against the alma mater that kicked him to the curb.
With one minute left in regulation, Liam Boyd lined up to kick a 33-yard field goal that would break a dealock and give MSU a slim lead. But after his leg struck the ball, it never made it to the uprights. It was blocked. Chiles then led Northwestern down the field. In six plays, the Wildcats made it all the way to the Spartans’ 16-yard line. Chiles then spiked the ball to stop the clock and set up a game-winning field goal attempt that Jackson Kleather converted.
It must have been devastating for Fitzgerald.
It certainly was crushing for MSU.
A week after the Spartans squandered a chance to earn their first Big Ten victory in a frustrating overtime loss to Illinois, they remain winless after blowing yet another golden opportunity against Northwestern. This program remains mired in torment and despair.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pat Fitzgerald shows smart signs despite another crushing Michigan State loss
