Pat Fitzgerald loses revenge game as MSU chokes late vs Northwestern

EAST LANSING – Aidan Chiles’ return to Spartan Stadium reminded him of everything he dealt with in his time with Michigan State football

Only this time, it was Joe Rossi’s depleted defense doing the disrupting of the Northwestern quarterback.

Yet despite getting sacked five times, Chiles did what he struggled to do as a Spartan – lead a late victory. And in the process extended Pat Fitzgerald’s losing streak to five straight, with a soul-crusher against his alma mater and former program.

After Liam Boyd's 33-yard field-goal attempt was blocked with a minute to play, Chiles led Northwestern on an eight-play, 64-yard march to get into field goal range. Wildcats kicker Jackson Kleather, who had a kick blocked earlier, hit the 34-yard game-winner with 2 seconds remaining for a 24-21 victory to spoil MSU's attempt at an upset on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Chiles’ replacement at MSU, Alessio Milivojevic, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another. He finished 19-for-30 for 216 yards, while running back Jaziun Patterson had 72 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Chiles was 18-for-27 for 226 yards and ran 16 times for 25 yards (taking out 35 lost on sacks). His 1-yard TD run and 2-point throw to Alex Honig with 4:18 to play tied the game 21-all.

THE PLAY-BY-PLAY: Michigan State vs Northwestern live updates, Week 7 game score, highlights

MSU was without starting linebackers Jordan Hall and Brady Pretzlaff, starting cornerbacks Tre Bell and Tyran Chappell, along with two key backups in corner Charles Brantley and linebacker Caleb Wheatland.

Chiles entered the game having been sacked only nine times through five games this season with the Wildcats. He was dropped 51 times over his 20 starts at MSU in 2024 and 2025. 

It (should've been) over when …

With less than four minutes remaining and the ball at his own 28-yard line, Northwestern coach David Braun called for a fake punt that MSU snuffed out with a pressure from Trey Lisle and a pass breakup from DeJae White.

The Spartans moved to the Wildcats’ 15 and forced Braun to call all of his timeouts.

It was (actually) over when …

But Boyd’s kick got blocked, setting up Chiles with a minute to play and 80 yards to go.

Chiles picked apart MSU’s defense for throws of 21 yards, 12 yards and 17 yards to get into MSU territory. Running back Caleb Komolafe ran 14 yards to get to the Spartans' 16, and Chiles spiked the ball to stop the clock and set up the winning field goal by Kleather.

Player of the game

The Spartans’ seven sacks entering the game were tied for the 14th-fewest in Football Bowl Subdivision. But defensive tackle Ben Roberts and defensive end Anelu Lafaele. Roberts had eight tackles and two sacks, while Lafaele also had a pair of sacks. Linebackers Dion Crawford and Cam Stodghill combined for 25 tackles and three pass breakups.

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Chrishon McCray had an electric punt return for 41 yards, set up by a strong block by Lisle. Then after a penalty, Milivojevic threw a deep post pass to McCray over the top, who leaped over the Northwestern defensive back and pulled in a 53-yard touchdown with 11:48 left that appeared to have MSU in position for a win with a 21-13 lead.

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The Spartans’ losing streak moves on to a new and frustrating level. To somehow get a bowl berth, they would need to win four of their final five games – a seemingly impossible situation.

Next up

The Spartans head west to California, where they will face surprising UCLA (5-0, 3-0) and first-year coach Bob Chesney. Kickoff is either 3 or 3:30 p.m. in Pasadena, MSU’s first visit to the Rose Bowl since beating Stanford there on Jan. 1, 2014.

The Bruins entered Saturday night’s game with blowout Big Ten wins over Purdue (52-38) and Maryland (54-3) and last week’s grinder on the road at Oregon (17-15). Their 39.2 points per game entering the weekend ranked 19th in the Football Bowl Subdivision. However, UCLA lost starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava for the season with a leg injury against the Ducks. Backup Ty Dieffenbach replaced him, but Dieffenbach and Madden Iamaleava, Nico's younger brother, are options at QB going into the game with the Badgers.

After the trip to Los Angeles, MSU gets a bye week before it returns to action for Fitzgerald’s first game against rival Michigan in Ann Arbor on Nov. 7. Kickoff and TV for that one is to be determined.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pat Fitzgerald loses revenge game as MSU chokes late vs Northwestern