Just when you thought Pat Fitzgerald was going to get his first Big Ten win as head coach of the Spartans, the rug was pulled out from underneath them in the final minute.
The game started out slow as Michigan State would fail a fourth-down conversion on their opening drive, but Alessio Milivojevic was strip-sacked after a Northwestern three-and-out that put the Wildcats in the redzone instantly. MSU was able to hold them to a field goal after NW recovered an Aidan Chiles fumble, and a 39-yard attempt
gave the Cats a 3-0 lead.
After a big kick return across midfield by Kenneth Williams, the Spartans responded. They converted two fourth downs in the redzone, including one from the three-yard line that resulted in a Milivojevic rushing touchdown to give MSU the lead 7-3 before the end of the first quarter.
At the start of the second, a nice Northwestern drive ended with a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Caleb Komolafe. The Cats were able to reclaim the lead 10-7. Milivojevic’s play was turning a corner with some impressive throws downfield, including a 29-yard pass on the ensuing possession, but he overthrew a wide-open Rodney Bullard Jr which would’ve resulted in a 40-yard touchdown pass.
Luckily for MSU, a dropped Northwestern catch in the endzone forced the Cats to kick a field goal, but Eli Coenen got a hand on the kick to block the attempt and give some momentum back to the offense. On the final drive of the half, Bullard dropped a tough catch in the endzone that bounced off his fingertips, but Milivojevic made the exact same throw on the next play and found Bryson Williams on a back-shoulder catch to reclaim the lead. Michigan State would head into halftime with a 14-10 lead over Northwestern.
There wasn’t much offense for either team in the third quarter, but the one time NW was able to get into the redzone, MSU came up with another defensive stop to force a field goal, and the Spartans held a 14-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s when Big Play McCray showed up.
Chrishon McCray caught a NW punt inside the ten-yard line, but a 41-yard return helped Michigan State start their next drive from midfield. Just two plays later, Milivojevic found McCray for a 53-yard touchdown pass on a deep ball down the middle to make it a 21-13 Spartans lead.
It didn’t take long for Northwestern to respond as they put together their best drive of the day that finished with a one-yard touchdown run for Chiles. Chiles was able to find Alex Honig for the two-point conversion, and the Cats tied it up at 21 with a little over seven minutes left.
Milivojevic would again miss Bullard on an overthrow that would’ve resulted in a touchdown, but the Cats’ coaching staff gifted the Spartans with one of the worst fake punt calls I’ve ever seen. It failed horribly for Northwestern, and MSU took over on the Northwestern 28-yard line. The Spartans were instantly in field goal range.
And yet, with a minute left, Liam Boyd’s 33-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
It took less than a minute for Chiles and Northwestern to drive 64 yards back the other way, and they converted on their field goal with two seconds left to win 24-21.
This team has found multiple ways to put themselves in positions to win, yet they can’t close games. Alessio missed at least three deep throws that should’ve resulted in touchdowns. The defensive line finally got to the quarterback in this one with four sacks just from Ben Roberts and Anelu Lafaele. It was an impressive game on both sides of the ball, but they didn’t do enough late in clutch time to get the job done.
Michigan State will travel to California next weekend to take on Bob Chesney and the #12 UCLA Bruins.
Go Green!
