Michigan State Falls 31-3 at Wisconsin as Colton Joseph Rushes for 141 Yards

Wisconsin QB Colton Joseph ran for 141 yards and a touchdown as the Badgers built a 17-3 halftime lead and beat Michigan State 31-3 at Camp Randall Stadium.

MADISON, Wis. — Michigan State was beaten 31-3 by Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday in Week 5, a game effectively settled by halftime, when the Badgers led 17-3. The Spartans have scored 19 points combined across their last three visits to Madison, according to Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch.

Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph did most of his damage as a runner. He carried 13 times for 141 yards and a touchdown, including a 47-yard scoring run. Joseph gained 41 yards on four runs within the game's first five plays to set up a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, and his 26-yard run was the biggest play on another scoring possession soon after.

The Badgers converted seven of their 10 third- and fourth-down chances in the first half while building their lead. Couch wrote that containing Joseph in the running game had to be the top item on Michigan State's scouting report, and that failing there, along with losing key downs, produced the lopsided margin. In his assessment, the defense is not the team's core problem, though it was far from flawless.

Michigan State's offense produced a single scoring drive. The Spartans failed on five fourth-down attempts, and Couch described a unit that can gain yards between the 30-yard lines but stalls short of the red zone, or fails to finish once there. Michigan State has scored 26 points combined in three games against high-major opponents this season.

Tight end Jayden Savoury was the lone bright spot on that side of the ball. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound redshirt freshman caught four passes for 26 yards, with 21 of those yards coming on three receptions during the scoring drive. Couch noted that Savoury, who nearly hauled in a spectacular catch against Nebraska earlier this season, has shown signs for four weeks of becoming a difference-maker, though no other pass-catcher appears ready to carry the workload.

The trip was Michigan State's first to Wisconsin since 2019, when a 38-0 defeat signaled, in Couch's view, that better days under then-coach Mark Dantonio were not returning. He argued the program's last strong era effectively ended that afternoon in Madison seven years ago.

The loss came in the first season of head coach Pat Fitzgerald, whom Couch wrote the program badly needs to succeed. Michigan State is also managing injuries to key players, including the player he called its one difference-maker on offense, without the depth to cover for them. He described the roster as relatively old, credited the kicker and punter as capable but insufficient as a foundation, and pointed to a young quarterback who has not found his level in recent weeks.

Looking ahead, Couch wrote that the Spartans' only path is incremental improvement: a defense that avoids collapse, an offensive line that gets and stays healthy, Savoury growing into a featured role in the passing game, and another target emerging alongside him. He added that frustration among fans can give way to Tom Izzo's men's basketball program as early as November.