Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State hit bottom before Michigan

Rexrode has covered Michigan State for a long time, so when he writes about the Spartans, the national college football writers pass it around.

Chris Vannini

@ChrisVannini

We got Rexrode writing about Michigan State again. Always a must-read.

Joe Rexrode

@joerexrode

"The skeleton is there. The pieces are there." But the program may be at its lowest point ever. As Michigan State limps into its annual referendum against Michigan, the question is whether Pat Fitzgerald is the one to lift the Spartans. Free to read. t.co/tSBr2p8OQB

The record explains why the piece hit so hard. Pat Fitzgerald was hired on December 1, 2025 to replace Jonathan Smith, and it started fine: a 30-20 win over Toledo in the opener, then a 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan. After that it fell apart. Michigan State has lost 6 straight, including a 31-3 beating at Wisconsin and a 37-38 overtime loss to Illinois at home.

The loss that stings most is the 21-24 home loss to No. 25 Northwestern, the program Fitzgerald played for and coached for years before it fired him. He couldn't beat his old team in his own building, and a week later the Spartans dropped a 10-28 game at No. 9 UCLA. So the question Rexrode is asking, whether Fitzgerald is the guy who gets them out, is now a real one in East Lansing and not just message-board noise.

Bruce Feldman

@BruceFeldmanCFB

Lots of good insight into Michigan State being in the deepest hole the Spartans football program has ever been in, and what it may take to get out of it from @joerexrode

Joe Rexrode

@joerexrode

"The skeleton is there. The pieces are there." But the program may be at its lowest point ever. As Michigan State limps into its annual referendum against Michigan, the question is whether Pat Fitzgerald is the one to lift the Spartans. Free to read. t.co/tSBr2p8OQB

Bruce Feldman's framing is the one to notice: not a bad year, the deepest hole the program has ever been in. That's a lot to say about a school that has had plenty of ugly seasons, and it's coming from 2 of the most plugged-in national guys in the sport, not from Spartans fans venting after a loss.

It doesn't get easier from here. Michigan State plays at Michigan on Saturday, November 7 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Michigan Stadium. Then it's Washington and Oregon at home before the finale at Rutgers. Still winless in the Big Ten, with that closing stretch, the Spartans could realistically finish with 0 conference wins.

For Fitzgerald, it's year 1, and nobody serious expected a quick fix. The rivalry game is still the one Michigan State fans judge everything by, though. A competitive night in Ann Arbor buys him some patience. Another blowout and the lowest-point talk only gets louder.