Unlike most fanbases, Michigan State fans had the Oct. 31 bye week circled on the calendar for over a month now as the Spartans struggled through the end of September and didn’t win a single game in October.
The bye week has felt like a necessary mental health break from the football program, although Pat Fitzgerald and his staff aren’t that lucky. They’ve been working.
Michigan State fans have had their first stress-free Saturday of the season, however, and it’s been relaxing to just sit around and watch football with no worries about the Spartans getting smacked around by yet another Big Ten opponent or finding a new way to lose a very winnable game.
They’re enjoying it more now that Michigan fans are going through a crisis over in Ann Arbor as the Wolverines struggled to put Big Ten bottom-dweller Rutgers away.
A sloppy first half and 14-13 lead at halftime had Wolverine fans calling for the immediate end to the Kyle Whittingham era because the team had apparently quit on their coach. They went up 21-13 in the third before Rutgers rallied to tie it up and now the Wolverines are on upset alert in the fourth quarter in Piscataway.
If you’re a Spartan fan, this is the mental reset that you needed. You’re enjoying a quiet bye week while that team down the road is having a breakdown over a close game with Rutgers.
This is the effort of a team who quit on their coaching staff
— MGo🫘 (@MJoeBean) October 31, 2026
Also, what a way to enter rivalry week. Michigan fans are so down on their team that they want Whittingham fired — or at the very least, Jason Beck — and Michigan State fans are, for the most part, being patient with Fitzgerald as he turns around a dumpster fire started by Mel Tucker and had its flames fanned by Jonathan Smith.
No Spartan fan will apologize for enjoying this bye week a little extra this year because of the meltdown happening in Ann Arbor.
Next week’s rivalry showdown in Ann Arbor should be… something?
Quarterback wasn’t Michigan’s lone issue
Everyone loved to pile on and blame Bryce Underwood for Michigan’s shortcomings this season, but the multi-million dollar quarterback wasn’t the main issue. He wasn’t playing well by any means, but he wasn’t the No. 1 problem — that’s been the coaching staff.
Tommy Carr has come in and he’s looked OK, but there’s clearly something off on this team and it’s going to be up to Michigan State to exploit that next weekend.
Rutgers is clearly giving the Spartans all the tape that they’ll need to prepare for an upset in the Big House next weekend. Michigan State hasn’t won a game in this rivalry in five years, but that needs to change expeditiously with how bad the Wolverines look.
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