Michigan State University Athletics
Saturday, September 26
East Lansing, Mich.
5 PM
Michigan State University
2-2 , 0-1
13
vs
31
Nebraska
4-0 , 1-0
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Michigan St. | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
Photo by: Rey Del Rio/MSU Athletic Communications
Michigan State Falls at Home to Nebraska, 31-13
9/26/2026 8:48:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State fell behind 24-10 at halftime and could not recover in a 31-13 loss to Nebraska at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night.
The Spartans are now 2-2 (0-1 Big Ten) on the season, while the Huskers improve to 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten).
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic completed 18-of-26 passes for 208 yards, while graduate running back Jaziun Patterson had 16 carries for 54 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Graduate kicker Liam Boyd kicked field goals of 48 and 46 yards, respectively.
Graduate linebacker Caleb Wheatland led the Spartans with nine tackles, including six unassisted, while redshirt junior safety Devin Vaught had eight tackles (five solo), redshirt sophomore cornerback Andrew Brinson IV had five tackles and redshirt senior defensive lineman Ben Roberts had four tackles, including one for loss.
"Congratulations to Nebraska - they've got a very good football team," said MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald. "I said that when I stood up here earlier in the week, and we made enough mistakes to make it easy for them. We lost the turnover battle 3-0. Obviously, not starting fast was something that we felt like we needed to do, and we did not do that. And then the late touchdown that we gave up in the second quarter put us back, now we're in chase mode again.
"I thought we responded at halftime and came out and moved the ball, but then the turnovers were costly, to say the least. To lose a turnover battle 3-0 against a team as explosive as they are is not going to give you an opportunity to win the football game. Beyond that, we've just got to play with more discipline. The amount of penalties and areas where we're just not executing clean enough is on me. It's my responsibility. Like I told the guys after the game, I believe in them, we're going to stick together, and we're going to get to work on getting those things fixed and corrected. But the key thing is we've got to stick together, so that's what I expect that they'll do."
SCORING SUMMARY
After both teams started with three-and-outs on their first series, Michigan State took an early 3-0 lead on a 48-yard field goal by Liam Boyd at the 5:10 mark in the first quarter on its second possession.
Nebraska took advantage of an MSU holding penalty on special teams, wiping out a Spartan blocked punt, and proceeded to score a touchdown three plays later as Anthony Colandrea found Kwazi Gilmer in the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 1:45 left in the first.
The Huskers went up 14-3 on Mekhi Nelson's 4-yard touchdown run at the 11:54 mark in the second quarter. Kyle Cunanan's 32-yard field goal made it 17-3 in favor of Nebraska with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Michigan State responded with a 10-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 2-yard TD run by Jaziun Patterson, to cut the Nebraska lead to 17-10 at the 6:07 mark in the second quarter.
The Huskers went back up by 14 points, 24-10, just before halftime. With just two seconds remaining, Vincent Genatone had a 13-yard touchdown reception to finish a 14-play, 74-yard drive.
The Spartans forced a Nebraska three-and-out to start the third quarter, then took their first drive 34 yards for a 46-yard field goal by Boyd to trim the deficit to 24-13.
MSU was attempting to make it a one-score game with a 52-yard field goal by Boyd late in the third quarter, but Nebraska blocked the kick and followed by taking its possession 66 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown to go up, 31-13, with 10:05 remaining.
UP NEXT
Michigan State travels to Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 3 to take on the Badgers at 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT in Madison.
The Spartans are now 2-2 (0-1 Big Ten) on the season, while the Huskers improve to 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten).
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic completed 18-of-26 passes for 208 yards, while graduate running back Jaziun Patterson had 16 carries for 54 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Graduate kicker Liam Boyd kicked field goals of 48 and 46 yards, respectively.
Graduate linebacker Caleb Wheatland led the Spartans with nine tackles, including six unassisted, while redshirt junior safety Devin Vaught had eight tackles (five solo), redshirt sophomore cornerback Andrew Brinson IV had five tackles and redshirt senior defensive lineman Ben Roberts had four tackles, including one for loss.
"Congratulations to Nebraska - they've got a very good football team," said MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald. "I said that when I stood up here earlier in the week, and we made enough mistakes to make it easy for them. We lost the turnover battle 3-0. Obviously, not starting fast was something that we felt like we needed to do, and we did not do that. And then the late touchdown that we gave up in the second quarter put us back, now we're in chase mode again.
"I thought we responded at halftime and came out and moved the ball, but then the turnovers were costly, to say the least. To lose a turnover battle 3-0 against a team as explosive as they are is not going to give you an opportunity to win the football game. Beyond that, we've just got to play with more discipline. The amount of penalties and areas where we're just not executing clean enough is on me. It's my responsibility. Like I told the guys after the game, I believe in them, we're going to stick together, and we're going to get to work on getting those things fixed and corrected. But the key thing is we've got to stick together, so that's what I expect that they'll do."
SCORING SUMMARY
After both teams started with three-and-outs on their first series, Michigan State took an early 3-0 lead on a 48-yard field goal by Liam Boyd at the 5:10 mark in the first quarter on its second possession.
Nebraska took advantage of an MSU holding penalty on special teams, wiping out a Spartan blocked punt, and proceeded to score a touchdown three plays later as Anthony Colandrea found Kwazi Gilmer in the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 1:45 left in the first.
The Huskers went up 14-3 on Mekhi Nelson's 4-yard touchdown run at the 11:54 mark in the second quarter. Kyle Cunanan's 32-yard field goal made it 17-3 in favor of Nebraska with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Michigan State responded with a 10-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 2-yard TD run by Jaziun Patterson, to cut the Nebraska lead to 17-10 at the 6:07 mark in the second quarter.
The Huskers went back up by 14 points, 24-10, just before halftime. With just two seconds remaining, Vincent Genatone had a 13-yard touchdown reception to finish a 14-play, 74-yard drive.
The Spartans forced a Nebraska three-and-out to start the third quarter, then took their first drive 34 yards for a 46-yard field goal by Boyd to trim the deficit to 24-13.
MSU was attempting to make it a one-score game with a 52-yard field goal by Boyd late in the third quarter, but Nebraska blocked the kick and followed by taking its possession 66 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown to go up, 31-13, with 10:05 remaining.
UP NEXT
Michigan State travels to Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 3 to take on the Badgers at 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT in Madison.
Players Mentioned
K
/ Football
CB
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QB
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RB
/ Football
DL
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S
/ Football
LB
/ FootballTeam Stats
NEB
MSU
Total Yards
369
257
Pass Yards
212
218
Rushing Yards
157
39
Penalty Yards
60
60
1st Downs
22
22
3rd Downs
6
3
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
30:19
29:41
1st Quarter
NEB 0, MSU 3
MSU - Boyd,Liam 48 yd field goal 11 plays, 51 yards, TOP 06:04
NEB 7, MSU 3
NEB - Gilmer,Kwazi 44 yd pass from Colandrea,Anthony (Cunanan,Kyle kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:25
2nd Quarter
NEB 14, MSU 3
NEB - Nelson,Mekhi 4 yd run (Cunanan,Kyle kick), 8 plays, 79 yards, TOP 03:11
NEB 17, MSU 3
NEB - Cunanan,Kyle 32 yd field goal 5 plays, 15 yards, TOP 01:11
NEB 17, MSU 10
MSU - Patterson,Jaziun 2 yd run (Boyd,Liam kick), 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 03:49
NEB 24, MSU 10
NEB - Genatone,Vincent 13 yd pass from Colandrea,Anthony (Cunanan,Kyle kick) 14 plays, 74 yards, TOP 05:58
3rd Quarter
NEB 24, MSU 13
MSU - Boyd,Liam 46 yd field goal 9 plays, 34 yards, TOP 04:12
4th Quarter
NEB 31, MSU 13
NEB - Genatone,Vincent 1 yd run (Cunanan,Kyle kick), 12 plays, 66 yards, TOP 06:22
Game Leaders
CMP
18
TD
0
YDS
208
INT
1
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
10
INT
1
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