Pat Fitzgerald was rightfully “p*ssed off” after losing to Notre Dame by 17 and he was even more frustrated with a Week 4 loss to Nebraska which opened up Big Ten play for Michigan State.
The first-year Spartan head coach is searching for some answers before a tough upcoming stretch that will begin with a road game against Wisconsin.
The Badgers, led by former Michigan State coaching target Luke Fickell, just went into Happy Valley last weekend and took down the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions. It was a shocking result but it did feel like it gave new life to the Fickell turnaround efforts. Wisconsin is flying high as the first team outside the AP Top 25 this week.
As you could imagine, Vegas isn’t giving Michigan State much of a shot.
Not all optimism for a bounce-back game is lost, however. Here’s why we should be optimistic that Michigan State is going to bounce back against the suddenly red-hot Badgers.
1. Epitome of a trap game for Wisconsin
Fresh off a huge upset win in Happy Valley which saw Luke Fickell earn national coach of the week honors, Wisconsin is headed back home to face a Michigan State team that it probably just expects to walk all over. The Badgers are riding high with a lone loss this season coming against No. 3 Notre Dame and they’re home for the last time until Oct. 24.
Not only is it a trap because the Spartans are playing poorly recently while Wisconsin has gotten much better since Week 1, but also because it’s the game before a bye and it comes right before Wisconsin’s toughest stretch of the season against UCLA, USC, and Iowa in back-to-back-to-back games.
Michigan State can catch Wisconsin looking ahead. This could be a prime letdown game for the Badgers.
2. Jaz Patterson vs. Wisconsin
Jaz Patterson is assuming Michigan State’s RB1 role with Cam Edwards out, and he is familiar with Fickell and this Wisconsin defense. He’s faced the Badgers once before while at Iowa and he had one of his first career breakout games, rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in a 42-10 route of the Badgers back in 2024.
Wisconsin does have the No. 19 run defense in the country but Patterson is going to run hard like he did against Nebraska’s 14th-best rushing defense and have himself a breakout game.
Patterson has performed well against Wisconsin before, and he’ll do it again.
3. Wisconsin turns the ball over a lot
One of the biggest knocks against Michigan State is that it doesn’t force enough turnovers while a common criticism of Wisconsin is that it turns the ball over too much.
Something will have to give on Saturday afternoon.
The Badgers average two giveaways per game and that’s something that Michigan State’s defense has been lacking. They haven’t been able to turn the ball over and give the offense more scoring opportunities, but with the Badgers really struggling to protect the ball this year, Michigan State is going to take advantage.
Michigan State will finally win a turnover battle and it’ll be the difference in the game.
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