One Key Fix for Michigan State Against Northwestern

One thing the Spartans have not done well in Big Ten play needs to change for an upset to occur.

Michigan State’s Alessio Milivojevic scrambles on a play against Illinois during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Spartans have been going through it this season, with injuries around every corner that are doing nothing to help, aside from one or two players being able to step up, such as Jaziun Patterson or Fredrick Moore.

The injuries on defense have led to the Spartans needing to start true freshmen; Cam Edwards is out for the season and has been replaced by the aforementioned Patterson, sometimes called the "Jazmanian Devil", and the offensive line has not been able to avoid the injury bug either.

Michigan State’s Jaziun Patterson runs the ball against Illinois during the second quarter on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

This may be why the Spartans have not been able to help their quarterback, Alessio Milivojevic, stay upright in Big Ten play, as he has had to run much more than necessary to avoid sacks since the offensive line is breaking down quite often.

In fact, he has been sacked eight times in just three games in Big Ten play, with five happening against Nebraska, one against Wisconsin, and two against their most recent opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini. If MSU wants to pull off an upset against the 25th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats, they need to do better.

What MSU Needs To Do Against Northwestern

• The Spartans need to stop the Wildcats from getting to Milivojevic, plain and simple. If Milivojevic is going to be able to keep up his momentum from the second half of the Illinois game, then he will need a good pocket to work with.

• It will be possible for the Spartans to do this as well despite injuries, as Northwestern has been somewhat lacking in the pass rush department during their Big Ten play. They only have three total sacks across two games, for a total average of 1.5 sacks a game, and their game against Penn State only yielded one sack.

Protection Is Key

• Even more than just Milivojevic needs to be protected though, as MSU's rushing game has been the engine of the offense that Milivojevic has been able to rely on all season long, especially against Illinois where Patterson was able to bring three touchdowns to the Spartans on the ground.

• The game will live or die offensively depending on the offensive line, and not only would a win against the Wildcats be great for the team in general, but it would be amazing for the offense going into the rest of the season knowing that they did it before, and they can do it again to get more upset wins later on.