Michigan State walked into the Big House and left with its first rivalry win in five years, Paul Bunyan, and all the bragging rights one could possibly want in the state of Michigan.
The Spartans out-toughed Michigan for 60 straight minutes to earn their first win since mid-September and third of the season. They’ve now beaten a couple of MAC schools and Michigan. That should make the Wolverines feel pretty good about their future under this coaching staff, right?
Michigan State can now walk the streets and not the alleys.
Who were the biggest winners and one main loser from Saturday night’s game?
Winner: Pat Fitzgerald
As a first-year Michigan State head coach, the one thing you can do to win an entire fanbase over is beat Michigan. We saw it with Mel Tucker as everyone hopped on board back in 2020 after Rocky Lombardi and Ricky White dominated the Wolverines but he was unable to keep the momentum going after an 11-2 season in 2021. Now we’ve seen it under Pat Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald has a chance to take this win and run with it. He can use this as a massive momentum shift on the recruiting trail, but winning the fanbase over was most important.
Now that everyone seems to be on board and believing in the direction of the program, Fitzgerald can focus on building his roster and avoiding any distractions pertaining to his job security.
Fitzgerald walked into the Big House and left with Paul Bunyan. Can’t ask for much more than that in year one of a rebuild.
Winner: The entire defense
Joe Rossi’s defense played its best game in years, and it did so while super shorthanded. The defense was down Jordan Hall, Charles Brantley, Ben Roberts, Tre Bell, and then Devin Vaught missed the entire second half with an injury.
And it didn’t matter.
Saturday night felt like 2017 all over again with a great defensive effort and gritty road win at Michigan when no one gave the Spartans a chance. The defense was essentially playing all backups and it still managed to shut Michigan down for about 58 minutes.
NiJhay Burt, Tyran Chappell, Vaught (for a half), Kenny Soares Jr., Eli Coenen, Derrick Simmons, Brady Pretzlaff, Dion Crawford, and Anelu Lafaele — they all played great.
Rossi should be incredibly proud of his defense because that was one of the best efforts we’ve seen from the Spartans in a decade.
Winner: Brandon Tullis
Brandon Tullis had a chance to transfer in the offseason when Fitzgerald brought in a handful of running backs from the portal and his backfield mate from a season ago — Makhi Frazier — left the program. Instead, he stuck around and he was rewarded in the most important game of the season with 25 carries.
All it took was 86 rushing yards to win an entire fanbase.
Everyone loved how Tullis was running the ball, Fitzgerald included. He came in when Kenneth Williams went down and he was more than ready. He led all rushers with 86 yards and really wore that Michigan defense down in the second half with his hard runs and broken tackles.
Tullis 100 percent earned himself a larger role moving forward.
Loser: Kyle Whittingham
Let’s keep it easy for our loser.
Was there anyone who lost more on Saturday night than Kyle Whittingham? The Michigan head coach not only lost his fanbase for good, but he also may have lost his job. The team, too, seems pretty lost as he tries to pick up the pieces from one of the most disappointing defeats of his legendary career.
Whittingham didn’t understand the rivalry like fans had hoped, the team looked unprepared, and he seemed lifeless after the game.
This weekend couldn’t have gone worse for Whittingham.
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