Michigan State beat Michigan, 15-6, on Saturday at Michigan Stadium as Liam Boyd kicked five field goals to power the Spartans to their first win in the series since 2021. The victory also marks MSU's first Big Ten win of the season and first win since a Week Two victory over Eastern Michigan.
The MSU defense forced four turnovers and kept UM out of the end zone until 1:35 remained. That late touchdown was the only thing between MSU and its first shutout in the series since a 34-0 win in Ann Arbor in 1967, and what would have been MSU's 11th overall shutout in the series. It was the first rivalry game for both first-year coaches, MSU’s Pat Fitzgerald and UM’s Kyle Whittingham, and the win sent the Paul Bunyan Trophy back to East Lansing after UM had won the last four meetings.
Alessio Milivojevic completed 21 of 32 passes for 188 yards without an interception. Chrishon McCray led all receivers with six catches for 92 yards (eight targets), and Kenneth Williams added four catches for 23 yards and 41 rushing yards on 10 carries. Brandon Tullis carried 25 times for 86 yards. Boyd was 5-for-5 on field goals with a long of 49 yards, and Rhys Dakin averaged 48.8 yards on four punts, pinning UM inside the 20 three times.
On defense, Nikai Martinez led MSU with seven tackles and recovered a fumble. NiJhay Burt had six tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery, and Devin Vaught added an interception. MSU sacked UM five times: Trey Lisle, Anelu Lafaele, Derrick Simmons, and Carlos Hazelwood had one each, and Michael Richard and Brady Pretzlaff split another.
For UM, freshman quarterback Tommy Carr was 14-for-26 for 138 yards and two interceptions. Bryson Kuzdzal ran for 49 yards on nine carries, Savion Hiter scored UM’s only touchdown on a 1-yard run, and Andrew Marsh had four catches for 38 yards. Troy Bowles led UM with 15 tackles, Chris Bracy had 10, and John Henry Daley added eight tackles and two sacks.
MSU outgained UM 298-192, held the ball for 38:07, and won the turnover battle 4-0. MSU converted 9 of 20 third downs, while UM converted 2 of 10. MSU reached the red zone four times and settled for field goals on all four trips, and it was flagged seven times for 70 yards.
First Half
UM won the coin toss and deferred, giving MSU the ball first. Williams carried twice for 7 yards, and Milivojevic found Samson Gash for 5 yards on third-and-3 to move the chains. The drive stalled at the MSU 38 after two straight incompletions, one broken up by Zeke Berry and another by Chase Taylor with Bowles in Milivojevic’s face. Dakin then booted a 51-yard punt that rolled out of bounds at the UM 11.
The MSU defense came up with the first takeaway of the game on UM’s opening possession. After Carr converted a third-and-6 with a 10-yard completion, Vaught intercepted him on the next snap and was brought down at the UM 49.
MSU couldn’t cash in, though, an all too common result for the Spartans takeaways on Saturday night. On fourth-and-2 at the UM 41, Milivojevic’s deep shot down the right side fell incomplete, and MSU turned it over on downs with 7:43 left in the first quarter.
UM went three-and-out on its next series, and McCray fair caught the ensuing punt at the MSU 10. McCray picked up a first down with a 4-yard catch on third-and-3, but Daley sacked Milivojevic for a 7-yard loss two plays later. Dakin answered with a 57-yard punt. Salesi Moa returned it 24 yards to the UM 47, but a holding penalty backed UM up to its own 21.
From there, UM put together its best drive of the half behind its running game. Kuzdzal ripped off a 16-yard run, and Carr scrambled for nine yards and a first down at the MSU 40 as the first quarter ended scoreless. Kuzdzal added a 9-yard run early in the second quarter, and Carr hit Marsh for gains of 13 and 5 yards to set up third-and-1 at the MSU 7. Dion Crawford led the stop that dropped Hiter for a 1-yard loss, and Jacob Baggett then missed a 26-yard field goal with 11:01 left in the half. That left UM empty-handed after a 13-play, 71-yard drive.
MSU answered with a ground-heavy series from Tullis, who carried four straight times for 12 yards and a first down. Daley struck again on third-and-4, sacking Milivojevic and forcing a fumble that Williams recovered. Dakin’s 49-yard punt was fair caught at the UM 18. The MSU pass rush then took over: Lisle dropped Carr for a 1-yard loss on first down, and Richard and Pretzlaff combined for a 7-yard sack on third-and-7. That forced a 36-yard punt that went out of bounds at midfield.
MSU took over at the 50 with 4:57 left and finally broke through. Milivojevic converted a third-and-9 with a 10-yard completion to Williams, and Tullis followed with a 6-yard run. On third-and-2 from the UM 31, Milivojevic hit Williams for 12 yards, and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Bowles tacked on 10 more to set up first-and-goal at the nine. The UM defense held from there, while Whittingham used all three of his timeouts to save the clock while also declining a delay of game penalty attempt by MSU to give Boyd a better kicking position. It iddn't matter as Boyd then kicked a 21-yard field goal to put MSU up 3-0 with 1:33 left in the half.
The MSU defense quickly gave its offense another chance. Tyran Chappell broke up Carr’s first-down throw, and Lafaele sacked Carr for a 9-yard loss on the next play. Fitzgerald used two timeouts to stop the clock, and after a Kuzdzal run for no gain, UM was forced to punt. McCray muffed the punt at the MSU 44 but recovered it at the 40 with 1:03 left.
Tullis kept the drive alive with a five-yard run on third-and-3, and Milivojevic found McCray over the middle for 35 yards to the UM 13, the longest play of the half. After a four-yard catch by Tullis, an offensive pass interference penalty on McCray pushed MSU back to the 19, and two incompletions followed. Boyd then drilled a 37-yard field goal with 5 seconds left. After a Carr kneel-down, MSU took a 6-0 lead into the locker room.
MSU outgained UM 137-78 in the first half, ran 39 plays to UM’s 26, and held the ball for 17:11 to UM’s 12:49. Milivojevic was 14-for-22 for 86 yards at the break, and Tullis had 41 rushing yards on 10 carries. Carr was just five-for-9 for 38 yards and an interception and had been sacked three times. Kuzdzal led UM with 35 rushing yards on six carries, and Daley had both of UM’s sacks. MSU converted six of 12 third downs, while UM converted just one of 5.
Second Half
UM got the ball to open the second half, and Carr found Moa for 14 yards on the first snap. After a 4-yard Kuzdzal run and an incompletion intended for Marsh, Aveon Grose stopped JJ Buchanan 2 yards short of the line to gain on third-and-6. UM punted from its own 47, and Cam Brown’s 52-yard punt pinned MSU at its own 1 with 12:53 left in the third quarter.
MSU answered with its longest drive of the game. After Tullis was stopped for no gain, Milivojevic hit Fredrick Moore for 10 yards and a first down to give the offense some breathing room. Tullis followed with runs of 7 and 5 yards, and on third-and-6 from the MSU 27, Williams broke loose for 23 yards to midfield. MSU kept leaning on the run, converting a third-and-1 with a 3-yard carry and a second-and-1 with a 2-yard Williams run to reach the UM 27.
Milivojevic found Gash for 11 yards to the UM 16, but the drive stalled from there. Bowles dropped Tullis for a 3-yard loss, and Smith Snowden sacked Milivojevic for a 5-yard loss on third-and-9. Boyd then hit a 38-yard field goal with 2:12 left in the quarter to put MSU up 9-0. It capped a 17-play, 79-yard drive that took 10:41 off the clock, even with Bracy in on five tackles.
Kuzdzal returned the ensuing kickoff 21 yards to the UM 21, and MSU mistakes helped keep UM’s next drive alive. An illegal substitution penalty wiped out a 3-yard Kuzdzal run on third-and-8 and moved the ball to the UM 28. On the next snap, Carr’s deep throw to Buchanan was ruled a 22-yard catch along the right sideline, but replay overturned it to an incompletion. A pass interference penalty on Burt still gave UM 15 yards and a first down at its own 43.
Kuzdzal broke a 9-yard run on the next play, but Lafaele forced a fumble that Martinez recovered at the MSU 48 with 1 second left.
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on MSU after the play moved the ball back to the MSU 33, and Tullis ran out the final second. MSU opened the fourth quarter with Milivojevic hitting McCray for 28 yards on the first play to reach the UM 39. The drive went backward from there: Tullis was stopped for no gain, Kenneth Williams lost 2 yards, and a short pass to Tullis lost 5 more. Dakin’s 38-yard punt was fair caught by Moa at the UM 8 with 12:01 left.
Carr hit Marsh for 10 yards and a first down, but Martinez dropped Hiter for a 1-yard loss, and Simmons sacked Carr for a 5-yard loss. On third-and-16, Burt intercepted Carr’s pass at the MSU 38 with 10:23 to play.
MSU turned the takeaway into points. After Tullis was stopped for no gain, Milivojevic found Bryson Williams deep down the left side for 36 yards to the UM 26, the longest play of the game. McCray converted a third-and-9 with an 11-yard catch to the UM 14. A holding penalty on Moore wiped out a 10-yard Tullis run and left MSU facing first-and-15 at the UM 19, but McCray picked up 11 more yards on second-and-13 to set up third-and-2 at the 6. Milivojevic’s third-down pass fell incomplete under pressure, and Boyd hit a 24-yard field goal to make it 12-0 with 5:04 left.
The MSU defense struck again two plays into UM’s next possession. Burt forced a fumble by Marsh at the end of a 10-yard catch and recovered it himself at the UM 37.
Whittingham used two timeouts as Tullis ran three times for 6 yards, and Boyd drilled a 49-yard field goal, his fifth of the game, with 4:09 left to put MSU up 15-0.
UM finally broke through on its next drive. On fourth-and-3 at the UM 32, Carr’s pass to Travis Johnson fell incomplete, but a pass interference penalty on Grose kept the drive alive. Hazelwood then sacked Carr for an 11-yard loss to set up fourth-and-21, but Carr found Johnson for exactly 21 yards and a first down at the MSU 48. Hiter converted a third-and-10 with an 11-yard run, and after a 5-yard Carr run, Carr hit Buchanan for 31 yards down the left side to the MSU 1. Hiter scored on a 1-yard run with 1:35 left to end MSU’s shutout bid, but Carr’s two-point pass failed, leaving it 15-6.
UM tried an onside kick, but Trey Butkowski’s kick traveled just 7 yards, and MSU took over at the UM 42. Milivojevic knelt three times to run out the clock, and MSU closed out a 15-6 win.
MSU returns home to host Washington on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Spartan Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 4:!5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
