Nebraska Hands Michigan State 31-13 Defeat as Injuries Pile Up
The short version
- Michigan State lost 31-13 to Nebraska in East Lansing on Saturday.
- Running back Cam Edwards left with a right knee injury after a 23-yard catch and returned on crutches; Jordan Hall exited with an apparent ankle injury.
- Cornerbacks Tyran Chappell, Tre Bell and NiJhay Burt were unavailable during the game, though Charles Brantley forced a fumble and broke up a pass.
- Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic went 18-for-26 for 208 yards, one interception and no touchdowns while being sacked six times.
- Michigan State has not forced a turnover since Chuck Brantley's forced fumble against Eastern Michigan and lost the turnover battle 2-0 to Nebraska.
Michigan State fell 31-13 to Nebraska on Saturday in East Lansing, losing running back Cam Edwards and several defensive backs while the offense surrendered six sacks.
Michigan State suffered a 31-13 home loss to Nebraska on Saturday evening, a defeat columnist Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal described as about as damaging a night as the Spartans could have had. Between mounting injuries, unfavorable rulings and repeated breakdowns in pass protection, the optimism built a week earlier largely evaporated. One silver thread Couch noted: this Michigan State team kept competing in a fashion recent Spartans squads had not, though he viewed that as only modest comfort.
The tone of the game, and possibly the season, shifted with 9:41 left in the opening quarter. Running back Cam Edwards, the standout of Michigan State's transfer portal class and its most reliable offensive weapon through three-plus games, caught a screen pass for 23 yards before taking a hit to his right knee. He was carted from the injury tent and came back in the second half on crutches, and Couch wrote that Edwards does not appear likely to see the field in the near term. Without Edwards, Jordan Hall and the team's top three cornerbacks available, Couch questioned whether the Spartans have the personnel to remain competitive in the Big Ten following their strong showing against Notre Dame.
Iowa transfer Jaziun Patterson delivered several effective runs in Edwards's absence behind an offensive line that improved as the game wore on in the run game. Hall exited in the third quarter with what appeared to be an ankle issue and also needed a ride to the locker room. Michigan State was already missing cornerback Tyran Chappell entering the night, then lost Tre Bell during warmups and NiJhay Burt during the game. Cornerback Charles Brantley turned in arguably his best performance since his one-handed interception against Michigan in 2021, forcing a fumble that rolled out of bounds and breaking up a pass on a key third down.
Couch conceded that while the Spartans' resolve should not be doubted, determination carried only limited value, as the fourth quarter demonstrated. He added that although Michigan State entered the year with what looked like several winnable games remaining, Saturday's result made those wins considerably harder to picture for a depleted roster.
Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic finished 18-for-26 for 208 yards with an interception and no touchdowns, but Couch argued his struggles ran deeper than the stat line. Milivojevic had flashes and found a rhythm once offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan sped up the tempo, though that adjustment was essentially forced because the line could not hold up in protection. Nebraska brought him down six times; a couple of those sacks were partly the quarterback's fault, yet he absorbed heavy contact all night and seldom operated from a clean pocket.
Looking ahead, Couch wrote that the offensive line, itself banged up despite showing growth generating interior running lanes, must shore up its pass protection or the Spartans will not reach two more wins, particularly if Edwards is sidelined. Nebraska's pass rush simply reached the quarterback far too easily and too frequently to survive.
On defense, Couch pointed out that Michigan State has not forced a turnover since Chuck Brantley's forced fumble against Eastern Michigan. The unit did produce a fourth-down stop while the outcome was still in question, which Couch called nearly as valuable, but he noted the offense gave the ball away twice against Nebraska after committing two turnovers with none gained in the Notre Dame loss. The Spartans, in his assessment, lack the talent to win while losing the turnover battle.
Couch identified the defensive front as a clear strength, one that has shown up the past two weeks, with kicker and punter possibly the only other advantages on a roster thinned by injuries. His conclusion: a team with so few edges needs to start ripping the ball loose on a regular basis.
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