5 Michigan State Players To Watch on Road vs. Wisconsin
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One team has momentum in this game. It's not Michigan State.
The Spartans (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) have lost two in a row and have a long list of injured players going into Week 5. Wisconsin (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten), on the other hand, has tons of momentum after beating Penn State on the road last weekend. With that in mind, here are five MSU players to keep an eye on against the Badgers. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
QB Alessio Milivojevic
Pressure will always be on the quarterback, whether they are playing well or poorly. Unfortunately, it's been the latter with Michigan State starter Alessio Milivojevic lately. He's turned it over twice in each of MSU's last two games and hasn't thrown a touchdown. Milivojevic had his flashes against Nebraska, like a nice play extension on third-and-long and a throw to Brennan Parachek or a throw to Jayden Savoury up the seam, but the bad felt a lot more common.
One bad game can just be that: a bad game. Two bad games in a row could be a coincidence. Three in a row is when it becomes a trend. He's still a younger quarterback figuring it all out, but production is the baseline expectation for everybody in the transfer portal era. Milivojevic needs a nice game to get back on track here. Wisconsin is 28th in total defense, which isn't quite as high as Notre Dame's (first) and Nebraska's (fifth) up to this point. That could help a little bit.
RB Jaziun Patterson
A huge gut-punch from last week was the season-ending right knee injury for star running back Cam Edwards. He was Michigan State's best playmaker on offense by a wide margin, and losing Edwards makes it a little more difficult to envision success for the Spartans' offense, which was already struggling even with him.
Jaziun Patterson is the anticipated replacement. He transferred in from Iowa this offseason and has 26 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns this year. Sixteen of those rushes, 54 of those yards, and a touchdown came against Nebraska. The 3.4 yards per carry doesn't seem inspiring, but Patterson ran well and hard. His first full game as MSU's starting running back will be interesting to see.
C Trent Fraley
The Spartans have to lean on center Trent Fraley a lot on Saturday. He's been Michigan State's best offensive lineman so far, and he'll have to play like it against the Badgers. They have a pretty good defensive tackle or nose tackle in Hammond Russell IV, who tipped a pass for an interception against Penn State last week.
Fraley could also be without Conner Moore, who often plays left guard right next to him. Moore has been listed as questionable on the team's availability reports. If he cannot play, Nick Sharpe will likely move from right guard to the left side, and Luka Vincic will step in for Sharpe. More and more runs seem to be going right up the middle and into Fraley's gaps for MSU, too.
CB Charles Brantley
Michigan State will lean heavily on Charles Brantley in this game, too. Both of MSU's starting corners are on the availability report right now -- Tyran Chappell has already been ruled out, and Tre Bell is questionable. Key backups NiJhay Burt and Keshawn Williams have also been ruled out.
Brantley did "just okay" last week with the Spartans short-handed, but he'll have to do it again this weekend. If Bell cannot play on Saturday, Michigan State will start Andrew Brinson IV, its CB6. Brinson actually did fine against Nebraska given the circumstances. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said this week Brinson wasn't even getting reps with the team's "gameplan group" during practice. That's certainly changed in the lead-up to this game.
LB Caleb Wheatland
Caleb Wheatland may also end up being MSU's top linebacker for this game, even though he's been the Spartans' third or fourth linebacker when the room has been healthy this year. Star player Jordan Hall is doubtful, and Brady Pretzlaff and Dion Crawford are both questionable, as is key reserve Cam Stodghill.
Linebacker has been a place where Michigan State has had depth, at least. Things could be okay if at least one of Hall, Pretzlaff, or Crawford is able to get off the availability report and play on Saturday. If none of them can play, look for DiMari Malone and true freshman Adam Shaw to potentially fill in.
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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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