Spartan Sundays: Losses on Margins Have Cost MSU Nice 2026 Season
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EAST LANSING — It's never great when you're digging into hypotheticals. You don't do it very often when things are going well.
Well, Michigan State isn't having a great 2026 season. The Spartans now sit at 3-7 overall this year and 1-6 against Big Ten competition following their 21-14 loss to Washington on Saturday night. Ironically, the lone conference win is from the biggest game of the season: Michigan.
That UM victory is really testing the hypothetical: "Would you accept a [insert bad record here] season if one of the wins is against Michigan?" A 4-8 finish feels like the likely result here, with No. 16 Oregon (7-3 overall) and Rutgers (2-8 overall) as the last two teams remaining on the schedule.
The story could've been a much different, though.
Unforced Errors vs. Washington
Michigan State probably should've won this game. It's entirely its own fault that Washington got a happy plane ride back to Seattle. Several big mistakes that were completely unforced really stand out.
The first was a roughing-the-passer penalty on starting rush end Kenny Soares Jr. That flag came in on a third-and-10 late in the first quarter. Soares -- a fifth-year senior, a team captain, and the team's No. 1 jersey number recipient -- saw Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. throw the ball, still wrapped him up, and landed on him with his body weight. It's not an egregious roughing-the-passer call, but the call was correct, and it was entirely preventable.
Soares' mistake gave the Huskies a second life. Five plays later, Williams found wide receiver Chris Lawson for a long touchdown. That's seven points for Washington off one mistake. It's perhaps worth more when one factors in that Michigan State's offense would've gotten good or great field position on the ensuing punt.
Then, there is Cam Fancher's interception. Such a mistake is simply inexcusable, even for a backup, but especially for a sixth-year senior with plenty of in-game experience from his prior schools. MSU was still going to be well within field-goal range had Fancher just taken the sack. That play probably cost the Spartans three points.
"We cannot expect to win football games and try to beat two teams," Pat Fitzgerald said after the game. "You can't try to beat your opponent when you beat yourself, and that's exactly what happened today. That's my responsibility. I thought we had this group ready to come compete to win, and the self-inflicted wounds were too many to even list."
Reflection of Losses to Illinois, Northwestern
This is the third straight home game where Michigan State played well enough to win but made critical errors at key moments. The Spartans' defense gave up a touchdown on one play in overtime to Illinois, and then the offense's attempt at a game-winning two-point conversion wasn't even close (the play call probably didn't help, in fairness).
Then, MSU had a potential go-ahead field goal in the closing moments against Northwestern, but it was blocked. Its defense wound up allowing the game-winning kick instead.
Parallel universes might exist where Michigan State is 4-6, 5-5, or even 6-4. Say the two-point try works against Illinois. Say it's Northwestern's kick getting blocked. Say Alessio Milivojevic doesn't get hurt in this game, meaning Fancher cannot throw that pick.
Imagine a world where MSU is 6-4, already bowl-eligible, and holding a win over Michigan, despite all the injuries and adversity it's gone through. Fitzgerald would deserve serious consideration for some Coach of the Year honors. It's excruciating how close this Spartan team seems to be, but their reality of 3-7 is ultimately a grave they dug themselves.
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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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