Winners, Losers From MSU's Overtime Loss vs. Illinois

EAST LANSING — Michigan State was one play away from pulling off a huge comeback.

The Spartans' potentially game-winning two-point conversion in overtime against Illinois didn't come close in the team's 38-37 loss that dropped MSU to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten. Here are the players who rose on Saturday, and those who didn't do so well.

Winners/Risers

RB Jaziun Patterson

This was a serious statement game for starting running back Jaziun Patterson, who is in his second game filling in for star running back Cam Edwards. Patterson scored four total touchdowns during Saturday’s game; three were on the ground, and one was through the air.

Depth at RB was a strength for Michigan State entering the year, and this type of day for Patterson is the exact type of thing MSU is going to need moving forward to have a shot at stealing a game.

LB Cam Stodghill

Michigan State had to really dig into its depth a lot at linebacker during this game. Star player Jordan Hall, starter Brady Pretzlaff, and contributor Dion Crawford all got hurt on Saturday, and this was with Caleb Wheatland already out for the game.

Cam Stodghill seemed to do fine while filling in for all the guys who got hurt ahead of him. He made 11 tackles against the Fighting Illini to at least provide something solid in the second level of MSU’s defense.

TE Jayden Savoury

Saturday was also a nice game for Michigan State’s young tight end. Second-year player Jayden Savoury racked up a career-high six catches for 49 yards on Saturday.

He’s been the Spartans’ best safety valve up to this point this year, and should really be considered one of a dozen or so players on this roster who are absolutely in that “must-keep” category for 2027. He also recovered a fumble at the 3-yard line that kept the game-tying drive late in the fourth alive.

Losers/Fallers

CB Tre Bell

Illinois’ offensive game plan was clearly to target cornerback Tre Bell quite a bit. Bell wasn’t even lined up against star receiver Collin Dixon very often, but the Illini and Katin Houser were looking to throw in his direction an awful lot during this one, especially early.

The depth in the secondary and at linebacker also was annihilated by injuries during this one. Michigan State had two freshmen cornerbacks out there while the game was a one-score affair during the fourth quarter. The back end simply wasn’t good enough during this one for Michigan State to win, though.

S Nikai Martinez

Field safety Nikai Martinez has regressed this year. He was one of MSU’s more reliable defenders during the 2024 season (he was injured for most of 2025), but things feel a lot worse now in 2026.

The biggest play was Illinois’ touchdown that put the road team up by two scores early in the fourth quarter. Dixon ran a route into the zone Martinez was responsible for, and not only was Martinez late to the ball’s arrival, but he badly missed the tackle and allowed Dixon to stroll in for six.

RB Marvis Parrish

Marvis Parrish was hardly involved during this game, which felt like a real surprise. He’s considered the pretty clear RB2 now behind Patterson now that Edwards is done for the season, but Parrish only received two touches during Saturday’s game against Illinois.

Patterson’s pretty great performance against the Illini may only separate the two of them even more as the season progresses. What also isn’t a great sign is that Kenneth Williams was also getting some offensive snaps at one point during the game.

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