3 Storylines to Watch in MSU's Road Game at Wisconsin
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EAST LANSING --- The substance of Michigan State's new-look program in 2026 is going to be tested on Saturday.
MSU (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) is facing some real adversity after a few losses and key injuries (most notably to star RB Cam Edwards), and now the Spartans are headed on the road to face a better-than-expected Wisconsin (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) squad. Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network. Here are a few storylines to watch for this game.
Coach & Player Crossover Games
There are a few people around this game who have been around both programs. Wisconsin defensive coordinator Mike Tressel was on the Spartans' staff all the way from 2007 to 2020, serving as MSU's co-defensive coordinator from 2015 to 2017 and as the standalone defensive coordinator from 2018 and 2019. Defense definitely appears to be the strongest part of this Badgers team. It delivered Wisconsin's upset win over then-No. 13 Penn State much more than its offense did.
Michigan State's running backs coach, Devon Spalding, was also on the Badgers' staff in the same position from 2023 to 2025. Spalding and the Spartans are getting tested after Edwards' season-ending injury, but Spalding did a nice job building a deep running back room via the portal this offseason. Jaziun Patterson is the new expected starter.
Grover Bortolotti, MSU's assistant running backs coach, also played at Wisconsin for five years, mostly as a special teams guy. His brother, Harrison, is also on the Badgers' squad this year and plays on special teams as well.
Michigan State cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat also had a stint with Wisconsin during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Tressel was hired by Wisconsin in 2023, so Poteat probably won't have a ton of insider information about the system to use.
Wisconsin also has a former Spartan player, and Michigan State has a former Badger. Tyrell Henry is the Badgers' WR1 this year with 24 catches, 307 yards, and one score. He played for MSU in 2022 and 2023.
Michigan State has rush end Anelu Lafaele, who gets regular snaps. He's got four tackles and half a sack so far this season and he spent a year at Wisconsin in 2024 as a true freshman.
Can Offense Turn Itself Around?
MSU's offense also needs a good week. The Spartans have only scored two touchdowns and scored 23 points in the last two weeks against the first two Power Four-level teams they've faced this season. No. 3 Notre Dame and Nebraska both boast good defense, especially the Irish, but Michigan State is still at the absolute bottom of the Big Ten in total offense and yards per play.
Wisconsin's defense probably isn't quite as good as Notre Dame's or Nebraska's, but it's still likely in the top half of the Big Ten. The Badgers rank 28th nationally and eighth in the Big Ten in total defense, and they're seventh in the conference on a per-play basis. Wisconsin's strength of schedule has been the toughest in the Big Ten so far (just ahead of MSU), according to ESPN's College Football Power Index, so this is a battle-tested group, too.
The pressure is going to ramp up for starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic in this one. He's had two subpar games in a row, and his start against Nebraska was probably the worst of the eight he's had at Michigan State so far. The issues in the offense go far beyond Milivojevic, but the discussion always is going to start with the quarterback.
MSU getting its ground game going would also help. That's much, much easier said than done without Edwards now. Michigan State is averaging 4.41 yards per carry this year with sacks excluded, according to Connor Earegood of the Detroit News, and that's just 15th in the Big Ten. Patterson and Marvis Parrish have a lot to make up for pretty quickly.
Test of Resiliency
This is also the first game of the Pat Fitzgerald era where things no longer seem to be going according to plan. The team has talked about expecting to win every game on the schedule, and now they're contending with back-to-back losses. Then, everyone also sees the team's best offensive and defensive players leave the field on a cart in the same game. Fitzgerald didn't give any updates on linebacker Jordan Hall on Monday.
Fitzgerald's foundation he's trying to establish early is getting tested in this game. Wisconsin's upset win at Penn State means the Spartans will probably be going into a hostile environment as well. A win in this one would get the 2026 campaign back on track for Michigan State. Another flat performance, as MSU had against Nebraska, and things will start to get very difficult very fast.
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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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