This week could not have gone much better for Michigan State football. First, it had an extra week to prepare for the Wolverines and Pat Fitzgerald also got some recruiting done. Then Kyle Whittingham had a foot-in-mouth moment when he downplayed the rivalry earlier in the week and called it Michigan State’s Super Bowl.
And then the Spartans dominated the actual game, showing that they actually understand what the rivalry means. The same could not be said for Whittingham and Co.
Whittingham’s dismissal of the rivalry game was noticed early in the week and it got under his own fanbase’s skin. He didn’t do himself many favors after the game, alluding to the fact that there are no more trophy games (he thinks, according to him) for the Wolverines and now it’s his job to get his team focused on the final three games.
It’s pretty clear that he didn’t get the rivalry; Michigan State understood it, however.
In fact, Fitzgerald spoke about how much it meant to him, the school, and its alumni base after the game and quarterbacks coach John McNulty got a friendly troll in.
McNulty posted a picture of himself and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan celebrating with the the Paul Bunyan Trophy and his quarterbacks with an incredible caption.
I think he’ll be Happy at Home!! At least we all understand that it’s actually an Important Rivalry!!!! Look for us in the Streets!! 😃🟢⚪️ @MSU_Football pic.twitter.com/Rxv5nHv7vq
— John McNulty (@CoachJ_Mc) November 8, 2026
“At least we all understand that it’s actually an important rivalry,” McNulty posted.
Is he wrong? Michigan’s head coach essentially admitted that he didn’t understand it, stating that he was interested in learning more about it. That doesn’t exactly instill confidence in a fanbase moving forward.
The Spartans have a coaching staff that gets it and Michigan doesn’t.
Finally, a nice change.
Welcome home, bragging rights
It’s been so long that everyone almost forgot what it was like to beat Michigan. The last win over Michigan in this series was back in 2021 and the rivalry has gotten a little stale because of Michigan State’s struggles.
That’s no longer the case with this coaching staff in place.
Fitzgerald has preached the rivalry all week and had different Michigan State legends speak to the team each day, concluding with Tom Izzo on Friday. He gets it.
Now even his quarterbacks coach is getting his jabs in on the lifeless body that is Michigan football. The juice is back on Michigan State’s side. It’ll be up to Michigan to match that moving forward either with Whittingham figuring it out or a new coaching staff coming in.
The bragging rights are finally on Michigan State’s side. We’ll see if they stay there.
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