What Makes the Nebraska Game Critical for MSU's Season

This week's game against the Cornhuskers will be another big opportunity for Michigan State.

Michigan State's quarterback Aidan Chiles runs for a gain against Youngstown State during the first quarter on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

At some point, Michigan State is going to have to try to steal a road game while it is away from East Lansing. The Spartans won the first road game of the Jonathan Smith era last year versus Maryland, but lost each of the remaining four away games and dropped their first road contest against USC last week.

Now, MSU has another road test ahead of it in Nebraska. Both the Spartans and the Cornhuskers started the season 3-0, dropped their Big Ten opener, and will be coming off a bye week. Nebraska lost at home to Michigan, 30-27.

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, we break down what makes this game a big one for the Spartans this year and for Smith's tenure in East Lansing.

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Below is also a partial transcription of Jonathan Smith's postgame press conference after his team lost that game at USC, 45-31.

Jonathan Smith Transcript

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

SMITH: We just didn’t have enough. Credit to USC, that’s a good football team… but we didn’t have enough, at the end of the day.

Our guys, I appreciate it; we're down at halftime, went in there, regrouped. SC scores first, in the second half we're down 21 points, and the guys continued to battle, find a way to get into a seven-point game into the third quarter. But then again, we just don't have enough to finish the deal. 

Credit to them. I thought a couple of times we had forced them to a fourth down, they convert. A couple of times, the quarterback, we're around him, a chance to come on the ground, don't do it. And so they finished better than us.

Defensively, we've gotta find a way to play the run better throughout the game. And they did a nice job, mixed in some pressure and they were not pressuring. Credit to those guys, the way they ran the ball, that really was a big, big difference, I think, in their success.

They knew they were gonna be exposed in the pass game, but when you got both of that going, pass game and then the run game where it was. Yeah, made it tough.

Michigan State's Wayne Matthews III, left, celebrates with Nikai Martinez after a tackle against Youngstown State during the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Q: Do you have injury updates on Wayne Matthews III and others?

SMITH: Yeah, what I was just told quickly that going through all the thorough evaluation, took them over to the hospital, positive signs. But they were looking for confirmation on tests and things, but positive signs, that's what I was quickly told. 

Stanton Ramil, first quarter, couldn't return. And then, yeah, Quindarius (Dunnigan) and Nikai (Martinez), both of them, same play, couldn't return after that, and then Wayne. 

Aug 28, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) passes against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the first quarter at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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