The latest edition of the Battle for Paul Bunyan was about as shocking as anyone could have imagined with Michigan State controlling most of the game and winning 15-6.
Kyle Whittingham’s time in Ann Arbor might be running out after yet another snoozer of an effort while Pat Fitzgerald can now walk the streets in this state and not the alleys — if you know, you know.
We’ll be telling stories about this game for years to come as Fitzgerald got his first signature win and it couldn’t have come in a bigger game for Michigan State.
This 3-6 team has some juice, folks.
If the Northwestern and Illinois games went the way they probably should have, this team would likely be bowling this season.
Now, some thoughts…
This was the best defensive effort since 2019
The defense we saw from Michigan State on Saturday night brought back some Mark Dantonio vibes. It shouldn’t surprise anyone because this game had been circled on Fitzgerald’s calendar all season and he had two weeks to prepare. The defense dominated all game long and really picked up the offense when it struggled.
Guys were making great tackles in the open field, Devin Vaught had a huge interception early to set the tone, Nikai Martinez recovered a huge fumble late when Michigan was gifted some good field position after two phantom penalties, and NiJhay Burt had a huge interception in the fourth.
Joe Rossi should be proud of his guys because they were down two starting cornerbacks and its two best defenders (Ben Roberts, Jordan Hall), and still found a way to shut Michigan’s offense down completely. Oh, and it lost Vaught for the entirety of the second half and Dion Crawford, too, went down with an injury but returned.
Carry this on throughout November and this team may surprise some people.
Brandon Tullis has earned the starting job
If Jaz Patterson is out longer, Brandon Tullis proved that he’s the best option in the backfield. He touched the ball 25 times and every single carry was a hard run. He bulled through the Michigan defense for 86 yards and extended a critical third-quarter drive that ended in a field goal to go up 9-0.
If not for Tullis, this game is probably 0-0 and ends as one of the ugliest college football games of the season.
Alessio Milivojevic, Chrishon McCray, Kenneth Williams, Samson Gash, and Fred Moore all made plays offensively, but Tullis was the star. He should be the go-to guy if Patterson misses anymore time. Fitzgerald loves toughness and Tullis may be the toughest runner on the team right now — he’s giving Patterson a run for his money.
Michigan State’s staff coached an incredible game
He knew he was down about a dozen players and he knew that his offense wasn’t going to do serious damage against an elite Michigan defense, so all Fitzgerald did was call an incredible game.
The offense was a little boring and predictable, but Michigan could not stop the runs right up the middle from Tullis and Williams that gashed it in the second half. He pressed all the right buttons along with Nick Sheridan and Rossi, and Michigan really didn’t have any answers.
Rossi dialed up one of the best defensive games since Dantonio, Sheridan nickel-and-dimed the Wolverines to death (and then hit them with a 36-yard bomb to Bryson Williams when the defense was sleeping), and Fitzgerald managed the clock to perfection.
We haven’t seen coaching this impressive in a decade.
Paul is home.
Bonus: Fitzgerald understood the rivalry, Whittingham didn’t
This one goes without saying, but Fitzgerald deserves some praise.
Whittingham downplayed the rivalry early in the week, then said it was Michigan State’s Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald was fired up and said that this was understood from Day 1 on the job and all he did was prepare for two weeks. One coach understood the rivalry while the other didn’t, and the result made sense.
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