I feel like I need to take a shower after that one. Gross.
The start of the game was fantastic. Two deep throws from Alessio Milivojevic to Bryson Williams and Carson Gulker immediately put Michigan State into Washington territory. After a few direct snaps to Gulker, he punched it in from one yard to put the Spartans up 7-0 early.
The Huskies were able to put together a decent drive to cross midfield, but their 48-yard field goal attempt would miss left to keep MSU up seven. We even got to see Ben
Shelton return, though; he seemed to reaggravate his injury and wouldn’t finish the game.
Washington missed on a few deep balls in the first quarter, but Demond Williams Jr. was finally able to connect on one with Chris Lawson for a 58-yard touchdown that would tie the game before the end of the first.
After a few solid throws from Milivojevic, the Spartans were able to get it over midfield, but were forced to punt early in the second. Michigan State’s secondary was struggling as they gave up another touchdown to Lawson, this time for 17 yards to put Washington up 14-7.
MSU saw injuries to Conner Moore and Alessio Milivojevic on back-to-back plays on the next drive. Although Moore would later return in the second half, Milivojevic would not. It was Cam Fancher’s first game back from his injury earlier in the year, and he would play the rest of the game as QB1. Fancher put a nice drive together and found Williams for an incredible catch on fourth down that tied the game at 14 right before halftime.
Both teams’ offenses slowed in the third quarter. Nick Sheridan was putting together a masterclass of a drive near the end of the third, but Fancher made a terrible decision to try throwing the ball away as he was getting sacked, and Washington picked it off in the redzone. This was another game of Michigan State having opportunities to make a play, but always coming up short.
With the game still tied up at 14, the Spartans caught a break after a punt as Washington muffed the catch and MSU recovered in field goal range. However, Liam Boyd missed from 50 yards out, his only attempt of the night.
Washington put a great drive together late in the fourth and scored on a Jayden Limar 1-yard touchdown run with 2:24 left in the game. Fancher did his best to keep the hope alive, including converting two fourth downs, but a pass to Gulker after passing midfield resulted in a catch-and-fumble that ended up in the Huskies’ hands. Washington would hold on to win 21-14.
Something about this game felt icky. The injury bug is still around, the secondary looked terrible in the first half, and it felt like the offense played scared rather than playing to win. Milivojevic threw for 108 yards while Fancher threw for 134. Brandon Tullis handled 21 carries for a solid 82 yards. Both Bryson Williams and Fredrick Moore had four catches for 60+ yards, including a touchdown for Williams. The defense was able to force five sacks, but the explosive Huskies offense was too much in the long run.
Michigan State is now 3-7, and they’ll host the Oregon Ducks on Friday night at Spartan Stadium for an 8PM EST kickoff. After Oregon manhandled the michigan Wolverines 31-7 today, we’ll hope the Spartans can keep it closer than that. The end of the season draws nearer with only two more weeks left for Michigan State.
Go Green!
