3 Winners, Losers from MSU's Self-Inflicted Loss to Washington
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EAST LANSING — Michigan State left a win on the table against Washington on Saturday night.
The Spartans had too many self-inflicted wounds to expect to win a Big Ten football game, falling to the Huskies 21-14. This loss drops MSU to 3-7 on the year and 1-6 during conference play.
Let’s take a quick look at some key performances right after the game. Here are three winners and losers from the latest defeat.
Winners
WR Bryson Williams
Sophomore wide receiver Bryson Williams made a pretty nice impression during his first career start. He filled in for the injured Rodney Bullard Jr. and took advantage of the opportunity, catching four passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.
The score was pretty huge, coming on fourth-and-goal a few minutes before halftime. Williams did a good job catching the ball in the back of the end zone, getting his right foot down in bounds, and then surviving the ground while his body was out of bounds. He also had a very nice back-shoulder catch on MSU’s opening drive, going for a 30-yard gain. That drive resulted in a touchdown.
WR Fredrick Moore
Opposite of Williams was Fredrick Moore, who also had a pretty nice day. The wide receivers needed to play well with tight end Jayden Savoury out, and after his main backup, Brennan Parachek, left this game, too, with an injury. Moore wound up with four catches for a career-high 66 yards.
This was on 11 targets, so take it with a grain of salt, but Moore also showed some elusiveness in the open field that we really had not seen a ton of this season. He’s one guy to watch closely during these final two games against Oregon and Rutgers. Michigan State will have to look at its wide receiving corps closely during the offseason, and Moore is a big part of that with another year of eligibility remaining.
EDGE Trey Lisle
One subtle, but encouraging, performance on defense came from strongside defensive end Trey Lisle. His playing time has fluctuated a ton this season, but Lisle was given the start for this one. He just seemed like a guy who was doing his job on a regular basis, at least watching it live.
Lisle is also another name to watch closely. He came to Michigan State as a low-risk, high-upside guy from the transfer portal this offseason after a few years at Southeast Missouri State. Lisle has two more years of eligibility remaining after this one, and his time at MSU is off to a good start.
Losers
QB Cam Fancher
Backup quarterback Cam Fancher was tasked with becoming the starter for about 2.5 quarters after starter Alessio Milivojevic went down with an injury in his left arm. It feels like the Spartans would’ve won on Saturday had that play not happened. Fancher is the backup for a reason, but the offense barely moved the ball while he was in the game.
The best-looking drive that happened with him in the game resulted in Fancher throwing a comically bad interception that probably cost Michigan State three points. Fancher’s final stat line was 14-of-22 for 134 yards, one touchdown, and that one interception.
EDGE Kenny Soares Jr.
One of the biggest plays of the game was a roughing the passer penalty on rush end Kenny Soares Jr. The flag came down on a third-and-10 play where Michigan State’s defense had gotten the stop from its secondary, but Soares, simply put, committed a pretty silly penalty, especially for a team captain and No. 1 jersey wearer. Had he laid off, MSU’s offense probably would have gotten the ball with pretty decent field position.
That kept Washington’s drive alive. Five plays later, UW quarterback Demond Williams Jr. connected with wide receiver Chris Lawson for a touchdown that tied the game at 7-7 at the time.
MSU’s Safeties
It feels like Michigan State is getting close to getting some health back, but one place the Spartans suffered a big setback was the injury Devin Vaught suffered against Michigan. He was out for Saturday’s game and had a pretty big boot over his right foot while wearing street clothes on the Spartans’ sideline.
This meant the pressure was really going to be on safeties Nikai Martinez and Aveon Grose. Martinez was already starting on the field side, and Grose was the player filling in for Vaught on the boundary. Washington is a team that is pretty pass-first, too. There were parts where UW’s Williams was just dicing up MSU’s defense, though, and there were several instances of Husky receivers getting behind Michigan State’s defense.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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