Michigan State Falls 31-3 at Wisconsin as Fourth-Down Gambles Come Up Short

Michigan State went 1-for-6 on fourth down, gave the ball away on downs five times in Wisconsin territory and lost backup QB Cam Fancher to an apparent knee injury.

Wisconsin controlled Michigan State from start to finish Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, winning 31-3 in a game shaped by the visitors' repeated failures on fourth down. Michigan State gave the ball away on downs five times inside Wisconsin territory and converted just once in six attempts, with the only successful try awarded on a Badgers penalty during the first half. The defeat dropped the Spartans to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin moved to 3-1 and 2-0 in conference play.

The Spartans' only points of the day came from a Liam Boyd field goal on the team's fourth possession, kicked with nine seconds left before halftime. That drive began after Wisconsin stalled around midfield with a little more than a minute on the clock, and Michigan State advanced to the Badgers' 13 with assistance from a roughing-the-passer penalty and a pass-interference flag. On fourth down there, coach Pat Fitzgerald chose the kick.

The drought now spans two games: Michigan State has not reached the end zone since the 6:07 mark of the second quarter in the previous week's loss to Nebraska.

Playing a first game without standout running back Cam Edwards, the Spartans averaged just 3.2 yards per rush in the opening half. Their first two possessions each worked into Wisconsin territory before going nowhere, with the drives consuming 11 and 12 plays while the team went 1-for-3 on fourth down across the game's first 20 minutes. Three first-half trips into Badgers territory produced nothing beyond Boyd's kick.

The pattern held after the break. Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic steered the offense to the Wisconsin 46, where Marvis Parrish was stuffed for no gain on a fourth-and-1 rush, and later to the 39, where a fourth-and-7 throw to Fredrick Moore fell incomplete. Early in the fourth quarter the Spartans crossed midfield once more, only for Chrishon McCray to drop a fourth-and-4 pass from the Wisconsin 43 that would have kept the drive going.

Wisconsin's offense faced few such problems. The Badgers capped a 13-play, 75-yard opening possession with a touchdown, then scored again on their second series — a five-play, 59-yard march that opened with a 26-yard gain from quarterback Colton Joseph and finished with his 15-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Harris.

Injuries piled up for Michigan State as well. Backup quarterback Cam Fancher, who took the field to open the second half with the Spartans trailing 17-3, hurt his right knee on the team's first series of the half, apparently without contact as he lunged forward at the end of a 3-yard scramble on first-and-10 from the MSU 45. He limped off barely able to put weight on the leg, spent time in the injury tent and emerged without his helmet before a trainer wrapped the knee.

Linebacker Caleb Wheatland followed, entering the tent during Wisconsin's next possession and later heading to the locker room with a visible limp. The Spartans were already without captain Jordan Hall, while fellow starter Brady Pretzlaff returned from an injury to play. Reserve linebackers Dion Crawford and Cam Stodghill entered the game listed as questionable; Crawford saw action.

Michigan State returns home for homecoming against Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. on FS1. The Illini were set to host Purdue this weekend hoping to rebound from a lopsided loss to Ohio State, and they will bring quarterback Katin Houser back to East Lansing. A fifth-year senior now in his first Illinois campaign after two seasons at East Carolina, Houser began his college career with the Spartans, appearing in 13 games and completing 58.5% of his throws for 1,132 yards with six touchdowns versus five interceptions before transferring after Mel Tucker was fired. Entering Saturday, Houser had connected on 68.6% of his attempts for 1,021 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions across four starts.