EAST LANSING — Only a week after its biggest win in multiple seasons, Michigan State’s momentum and bowl hopes came to a screeching halt against Washington in a game that left the Spartans battered and bruised.
Washington scored the winning touchdown with 2:25 to play in the fourth quarter of a 21-14 win over Michigan State on Nov. 14 at Spartan Stadium. Michigan State lost starting quarterback Alessio Milivojevic to an arm injury before halftime and churned just 107 yards in the second half.
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BOX SCORE: Washington 21, Michigan State 14
Michigan State (3-7, 1-6 Big Ten) will miss bowl eligibility for a fifth straight season. Its last bowl berth came in 2021, when the Spartans beat Pittsburgh in the Peach Bowl. This continues the longest bowl drought since 19 seasons passed between Duffy Daugherty’s 1965 Rose Bowl team and George Perles’ 1984 Cherry Bowl team.
It is Michigan State’s longest streak of losing seasons since 1979 to 1983, which also spanned three head coaches.
Washington (6-4, 3-4) running back Jayden Limar scored the game-winning 1-yard touchdown with 2:25 to play on an eight-play, 78-yard drive. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. connected with tight end Decker DeGraaf for a 32-yard gain on a lateral flea flicker. Then receiver Chris Lawson (five catches, 124 yards, two touchdowns) caught a 21-yard pass that set up Limar for the 1-yard, game-winning touchdown.
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The game had already gotten off to a funky start — a delayed start, to be specific — after the FAA’s Nov. 13 ground stop delayed Washington’s travel plans and got the Huskies into Lansing in the wee hours of the morning.
Add to the weirdness: An MSU squad down eight one-time starters to a rash of injuries this season suffered more blows in the first half. On back-to-back plays, left guard Conner Moore (right knee) and Milivojevic (left hand) went down with injuries in the second quarter. Moore returned to the game, but Milivojevic stood on the sideline with his left arm slinged, not to return.
With 2:15 left in the third quarter, backup quarterback Cam Fancher tried to keep a drive alive in the red zone as he threw the ball backward out of bounds. The problem was he threw it right to Washington linebacker Jacob Manu for an interception. Add injury to insult: Fancher twisted the right knee that kept him out the past four games and left the field hobbling.
As third-string true freshman Kayd Coffman led a three-and-out early in the fourth quarter, Fancher ran down the sideline. He then ran back on the field, after a muffed punt recovered by true freshman linebacker Adam Shaw gave MSU the ball at Washington’s 33-yard line. But the drive ended in a missed 50-yard field goal by kicker Liam Boyd. MSU needed its defense to pull through.
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Michigan State’s defense bowed up to get the ball back, but Michigan State went three-and-out after a four-yard scramble by Fancher on third-and-13. The drive started with a fumbled handoff between Fancher and running back Brandon Tullis. Then Washington marched down the field for its game-winning drive.
Michigan State had three timeouts and sent out the punt team with 1:54 to play, only to send Fancher and the offense back on the field, where he connected with Fredrick Moore for seven yards and a first down. Then Fancher hit Tullis for 10 yards. MSU picked up a first down on fourth-and-4 from its own 38, but tight end Carson Gulker fumbled the ball with 35 seconds to go on a peanut punch by Xe’ree Alexander.
In a first half that Fitzgerald called “lethargic” at halftime, Michigan State started out hot as Milivojevic followed a 30-yard throw to receiver Bryson Williams on third-and-6 with a 26-yard throw to Gulker on the Spartans’ opening drive. Gulker thought he had punched in a 3-yard direct snap touchdown two plays later, but he took another carry to churn the final yard for a 7-0 lead 3:22 into the game.
MSU nose tackle Ben Roberts got back on the field after missing a game with a knee injury he suffered one snap into the game at UCLA. He got in on a tackle on the first defensive snap this time, but he went to the locker room after the second snap and returned to the sideline in street clothes. Michigan State held Washington off the scoreboard after kicker Tyler Robles shanked a 48-yard field goal wide left.
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Then, Washington’s offense sparked as Williams flashed his arm talent with some deep shots, though he couldn’t quite dial them in. A pair of overthrows preceded a 58-yard bomb to Lawson that tied the game with 28 seconds to play in the first quarter. Those two connected again for a 17-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead halfway through the second quarter following two big pickups of 26 and 33 yards through the air.
When it looked like Michigan State might buckle, Fancher connected with Moore for a 29-yard gain that settled some nerves. Four plays later on fourth-and-2, Fancher hit Bryson Williams at the back of the end zone for a contested touchdown that survived review and tied the game 14-14 at the half.
@ConnorEaregood
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State loses QB, bowl hopes in falling to Washington
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
