Michigan State senior linebacker Dion Crawford (18) before his game against Northwestern at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026.
It was a scene East Lansing had been missing. MSU football led a ranked opponent into the fourth quarter for the first time since 2022.
A victory seemed all but guaranteed after Northwestern ran a fake punt from its 28-yard line. The direct snap to the upback, who tried to throw a pass, was tipped and fell incomplete. The botched play handed MSU perfect field position for a game-winning field goal with 3:29 left.
Those final three minutes flipped the script. A blocked MSU field goal attempt turned into a game-winning field goal for Northwestern, as Aidan Chiles, the former Spartan quarterback, stood on the Wildcats’ bench and screamed at the home crowd after leading a winning drive that took less than a minute.
It was an nightmare ending that turned what seemed to be a signature win for head coach Pat Fitzgerald into a 24-21 loss to No. 25 Northwestern, the program he coached for 17 years.
“I get paid to win, and we’re not winning, so it starts and ends with me,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got to look at all the reasons why things happened the way that they did, and just get back to work and roll those sleeves up.”
“There was a lot of right in this group,” Fitzgerald said.
Until the chaos, MSU had played its most complete game, with all three phases doing their job.
The Spartan defense set the tone, holding Northwestern to minus-14 rushing yards over its first two drives. The Wildcats entered averaging 203 rushing yards per game, fourth in the Big Ten, and finished with 134 at 3.2 yards per carry. Senior defensive lineman Ben Roberts led the way with season highs of eight tackles, three for loss and two sacks. He was part of a five-sack day for MSU.
It was an impressive performance from a defense missing all of its starting linebackers and cornerbacks.
“Everybody made it possible for me. My coaches do a great job preparing me,” Roberts said. “But like I said, don’t matter. We lost. I’m all about winning.”
Northwestern still led 3-0 after those drives, thanks to a strip sack of sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic that started the Wildcats’ drive at MSU’s 10-yard line.
Special teams answered. Kenneth Williams returned the kickoff 44 yards to Northwestern’s 49, and the offense scored 12 plays later on a fourth-and-2 rollout. Milivojevic kept it himself for a 3-yard touchdown run, making it 7-3 MSU and giving the Spartans their first opening-quarter touchdown and first lead in Big Ten play.
Northwestern fired back on its next drive, realizing it could hurt MSU through the air and leaning on that on third down to go up 10-7. After a Spartan turnover on downs, the Wildcats drove into field goal range, threatening to extend the lead to 13-7, only for special teams to step up again and block a 41-yard attempt.
The momentum kick-started a 77-yard drive in nine plays, capped by a 32-yard pass from Milivojevic to freshman wide receiver Bryson Williams, his first career touchdown.
All of a sudden, the Spartans led 14-10 on the cusp of halftime. Sophomore edge rusher Anelu Lafaele then suplexed Chiles to the ground for a sack, igniting the crowd and setting the tone going into the break. It was MSU’s first lead over a ranked team at halftime since 2022 and its first Big Ten halftime lead since Maryland last season.
The third quarter was a standstill, with Northwestern the only team to score on a field goal, making it 14-13 heading into the fourth.
Special teams ignited the offense yet again when senior wide receiver Chrishon McCray returned a punt 41 yards to the MSU 48. Two plays later, Milivojevic fired a strike down the middle to McCray, who grabbed it out of the air, avoided a defender and ran into the end zone. MSU led 21-13 with 7:19 to go.
Milivojevic finished 19-of-30 for 216 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He added 17 rushing yards and a touchdown.
“Had a lot of time in the pocket, came back to the field and saw McCray streaking on the field. He went and made a play,” Milivojevic said. “So props to him for ultimately beating his guy and going to finish that play for a touchdown.”
But Chiles wasn’t ready to lose to his former team. He went 64 yards in eight plays and converted the two-point conversion. All of a sudden it was tied 21-21.
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A second straight week of overtime loomed, especially after an MSU three-and-out and a Northwestern drive that stalled at fourth down. Then came the fake punt from the Wildcats’ 28-yard line, a reckless call for a ranked team on the road against a 2-4 opponent.
MSU was on the cusp of a breakthrough, only to feel what has become a regular Saturday in East Lansing: losing.
The Spartans drained more than two minutes off the clock and moved 13 yards to the 15-yard line, all to have a 33-yard field goal attempt blocked with a minute left.
Then the injuries showed. Chiles marched Northwestern 64 yards down the field in less than a minute, setting up a game-winning 34-yard field goal.
“A lot of the guys' first opportunity happened today, and they’ll be better on Tuesday,” Fitzgerald said. “Just got to find a way to get more points; that’s kind of where we’re at right now.”
MSU (2-5) will try to finally break through as it travels to California on Saturday, Oct. 24, to face UCLA (5-0).
