Final Pre-Game Thoughts on MSU vs. Nebraska

On this pregame edition of the MSU Spartans Insider Podcast, we break down the things Michigan State must do later today.

Michigan State's Chance Rucker celebrates after a defensive stop against Nebraska during the third quarter on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

After a long two weeks, the Michigan State football team is finally back in action today, as the Spartans are set for another road test against Nebraska. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on FS1.

Friday on the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, I predicted the winner and the score of this game between the Spartans and the Cornhuskers (spoiler alert: I guessed Nebraska, 34-27). Now, I will go over the matchup one last time and also talk about what it would look like if MSU were to prove me wrong and get a victory.

The complete video of this episode can be found below.

Watch the MSU Spartans Insider Podcast here:

In addition, a partial transcript of Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith's press conference from this past Monday has been provided.

Jonathan Smith Transcript

Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith talks to the media on Sept. 29, 2025 ahead of his team's game at Nebraska. | Jacob Cotsonika, Michigan State Spartans on SI

SMITH: Bye week, kind of approached it early in the week to take a deep look at ourselves, and so Monday and Tuesday, a lot of self-scouting, trying to learn from the first four games, what we put out on tape, what we're doing well, what we've got to do better, just kind of an evaluation of our schemes, personnel, those kind of things. And you're always looking to grow and just learn lessons from that, so we took those couple of days and then emphasized that in practice on Wednesday, flipped gears on Thursday practice with an emphasis on Nebraska, and then we did that on Sunday as well.

So, gave Friday and Saturday to the guys. We did a heavy amount of recruiting, Thursday, Friday, Thursday evening, Friday, all day we'd be watching the guys. 

Sep 20, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) runs onto the field before the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

And so, big goal, coming back yesterday, just kind of improvement on what we learned, right. Emphasizing that, just kind of recovery, got some bumps and bruises, mid-season healthy, getting refreshed and refocused, after four games going into a stint of one game at the time, this is a stint of five games straight here. 

I was pleased with the work we got done yesterday, kind of as a team. 

(We're) headed toward a big opportunity back into this league and conference play in a tough environment, going back on the road. Coach (Matt) Rhule has done a nice job there. These guys are a good football team. They can score points. This quarterback's (Dylan Raiola) one of the better ones we're going to play. You can see their stats in points scored, passing yards, and those things. 

I think defensively, they hold their own. Done some really good things, especially on the back end. Pass defense, you look at it, stands out on tape, so we've got a real, real challenge coming Saturday.

Jonathan Smith patrols the sidelines during Michigan State's game at USC on Sept. 20, 2025. | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

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