Michigan State football: 3 implications of massive win over No. 6 Michigan

It has happened. Michigan State football is now 2-0 against Michigan in the Mel Tucker era. It’s the first time that a Spartan head coach has started 2-0 vs the Wolverines, ever.

The game wasn’t pretty: with 6:47 left in the third quarter, Michigan led the Spartans 30-14. Down the final stretch, it was Kenneth Walker III and Michigan State’s game to lose. They outscored Michigan 16-3 in the final 1.5 quarters, Walker had three rushing touchdowns, and the defense stepped up. Big time.

This was big boy football and Michigan State has proven they’re legit. It was their biggest test so far and they beat the Wolverines 37-33 in East Lansing.

Michigan State football has shown mental toughness, but it made some great adjustments

Michigan out-performed Michigan State through most of the game. They held the Spartans to zero third-down conversions until the final quarter, had the yards to beat, and it looked like the game was over, pending collapse.

The collapse came and freshman quarterback JJ McCarthy fumbled the ball twice; he got lucky once but was not so lucky the second time. Then Cade McNamara under-performed in the final stretch.

It wasn’t only Michigan’s doing, Michigan State won on defense and a good rushing attack. Here’s what the win means.