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Michigan State’s Independent Voice

MSU BEATS MICHIGAN Spartans finally see ‘Brightside’ in Battle for Paul Bunyan COMPLETE COVERAGE INSIDE

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Michigan State junior running back Brandon Tullis (7) dodges a diving Michigan defender at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Photo by Graham Holden.

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Vol. 117 | No. 9

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ONE STATE. TWO TEAMS. ONE WINNER.

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SPORTS

PAUL BUNYAN BACK TO EAST LANSING FOR FIRST TIME IN 5 YEARS

Michigan State players hold up the Paul Bunyan Trophy for fans after defeating Michigan 15-6 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Photo by Cooper Schwartz.

By Owen Kinzey okinzey@statenews.com For the first time in half a decade, Paul Bunyan will reside in East Lansing. MSU went to Ann Arbor in the midst of a six-game losing streak without a conference win to its name. But MSU reversed the course of its season after a grind-it-out 15-6 win. Michigan quarterback Tommy Carr lined up on first-and-10 and fired the ball over the middle of the field. It was batted off wide receiver JJ Buchanan’s hands and intercepted by junior safety Devin Vaught; a critical mistake just four plays into the game, when the turnover battle is paramount. “Huge credit to the assistant coaches on the defensive side of the ball and Joe Rossi for putting together a plan that they could execute at a high level,” MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “And then the guys were the ones that went out and did it in the arena.” The Spartans didn’t play their best game, but they did just enough to win. MSU settled for five consecutive field

goals to earn its first Big Ten win of the Fitzgerald era. The Spartans were the last Power Four team without a conference win until a 14.5-point upset over a rival changed the narrative. “We’ve had some tough outcomes. We’ve had some tough games. We’ve had some calls we’d love to have back,” Fitzgerald said. “But this is a huge catalyst.” MSU couldn’t capitalize on the blunder, despite sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic delivering a fourth-and-2 strike that fell incomplete. Finally, during the fourth series, Michigan got into the flow of the game. Running back Bryson Kuzdzal efficiently drove the Wolverines into the red zone before facing a pivotal third-and-1. MSU stood its ground and got the stand. The Spartans forced a 1-yard loss, and Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham sent out the special teams unit. Michigan fans greeted the decision with a roar of boos, a fitting reaction to

a team that turned to its backup kicker after countless field-goal struggles. Kicker Jacob Baggett attempted his first-ever field goal and doinked it off the left upright. The momentum swung in favor of MSU, but neither side found a rhythm until the final two minutes of the first half. Milivojevic connected with junior running back Kenneth Williams for a pair of checkdowns to keep the drive alive. MSU eventually stalled on the 3-yard line and decided to take a 3-0 lead rather than risk a turnover. The Spartan defense immediately forced a three-and-out behind a 9-yard sack from sophomore edge Anelu Lafaele. MSU received the ball at its own 40-yard line, and senior wide receiver Chrishon McCray lived up to his nickname — delivering the biggest play of the day. McCray found space on a 35-yard reception, allowing the Spartans to tack on another three points going into halftime. “To win a game like this, to win a rivalry game, to win it on the road, with as much adversity as we’ve been

through, you have to have guys step up,” Fitzgerald said. MSU’s first drive out of the half lasted 10 minutes and 41 seconds. The Spartans took the ball from their own end zone all the way down to their opponent’s 20-yard line. The Spartans were killing the clock and killing it fast. Milivojevic accepted a third-down sack, resulting in another drive that stalled in the red zone. Fifth-year kicker Liam Boyd drilled his third field goal of the night, extending the lead to 9-0. The Wolverines needed a quick response, but those aspirations disappeared five plays into the next drive. Lafaele forced the ball loose, and the Spartans recovered. MSU had one responsibility: drain the remaining time. Instead, the drive only lasted five plays. Michigan received a second chance, but Carr gave it right back. Senior cornerback NiJhay Burt picked him off, and MSU produced another longlasting drive that ended in yet another field goal.

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Carr came back for a miracle response, but Burt had other plans and forced another turnover. The turnover turned into another three points, and Michigan followed with an inconsequential garbage time touchdown, finalizing the score at 15-6 for the Spartans’ first victory in Ann Arbor since 2020. “The credit goes to the man of the arena: that’s our players,” Fitzgerald said. “I told them after the game that the definition of one of our values, which is respond. We’ve been through so much adversity throughout this year, and for them to respond the way that they have, not only tonight but also the whole season, I could not be more proud of them and more thankful for them.” The Spartans (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten) will look to ride the momentum back to East Lansing when they host Washington (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) at 4:15 p.m. Saturday. Big Ten Network will air the game.

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NEWS

MSU VICTORY SPARKS STUDENT CELEBRATIONS DOWNTOWN

Students take to the streets in East Lansing, Mich., after Michigan State football defeated rival University of Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2026. Photo by Brendan Mullin.

By Madeline Hoefling, Owen Kinzey, Jaiden Myler mhoefling@statenews.com, okinzey@statenews.com, jmyler@statenews.com Michigan State students took to the streets of East Lansing in celebration as MSU football secured its first Big Ten win this season against the University of Michigan. The Spartans’ 15-6

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victory at Michigan Stadium on Saturday night also marked their first win over U-M since 2021. Students and fans promptly f looded downtown East Lansing following the win, gathering on Grand River Avenue and the surrounding streets in triumph. For a team that had gone weeks without a

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win, beating its in-state rival made the moment even sweeter, fans told The State News. The Spartans not only ended their losing streak but also gave their fans a rivalry win to celebrate. A cacophony enveloped downtown as chants of “Go Green, Go White” resounded. Cars honked in support, and students grabbed onto slow-rolling vehicles and shook them, reveling in MSU’s victory. Numerous fires erupted in the streets as flames engulfed furniture across East Lansing. Crowds gathered to watch students set couches on fire, a historic MSU tradition following dramatic wins. Mechanical engineering senior Luke Dieffenbaugher described the scene at Cedar Village Apartments as refreshing. “The last three years have been pretty brutal,” Dieffenbaugher said. “It’s really nice that in my four years here, we beat Michigan at least once.” ELPD arrived downtown to monitor the fires, warning students that arson is a felony and they’d risk such charges if they didn’t disperse. MSU Police and Public Safety sent out a Community Awareness Message at 12:22 a.m., warning students about people gathering around numerous small fires off campus and near downtown. They advised students to “avoid the area and follow the directions of

police officers, and BEHAVE RESPONSIBLY.” ELPD declined to comment at the scene and university spokespersons were unavailable for immediate comment. Celebrations continued well after 1 a.m., while students were not deterred by the police presence. Psychology senior Delilah Tirva shared a sentiment of exhilaration and described the public celebration as “just happiness,” noting the fires were not set maliciously. “Everyone is high on life right now; it feels amazing,” Tirva said. “Being a senior, it’s crazy to witness; finally, we’re seeing our time.” For mechanical engineering senior Nathan Chase, being a student at MSU all four years and a football fan all his life, seeing this happen and being able to send a video to family and rejoice has been a long time coming. “This is a core memory,” Chase said. The rivalry win marked a significant moment for a new generation of Spartan fans. With MSU’s last victory over the Wolverines coming more than five years ago, most undergraduate students have never experienced a win against U-M as students. Saturday’s victory gave them a rivalry memory of their own.

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WELCOME BACK: STUDENTS DISCUSS IMPACT OF ‘THE BLACK PARADE’ 20 YEARS LATER

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By Alyssa Perera aperera@statenews.com “Overplayed” and “repetitive” were kinesiology senior Sophie Liu’s reactions to her first taste of My Chemical Romance in high school through the cult classic “Welcome to the Black Parade.” Now, she crowns the band “the cover of emo.” The band’s pioneering album “The Black Parade” might have marked its 20th anniversary on October 23, 2026, but the band has been celebrating since July 2025 with their ongoing Long Live The Black Parade Tour, a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of the album and a message on their website thanking

the fans for “marching with them.” In response, fans packed nearly 50 stadium shows worldwide and skyrocketed the album to No. 1 on Billboard’s top 200 all-genre chart this week, a first for the band. Having marched with the band since age nine, packaging junior Becky Mills classified the album as a “no-skip,” that “defined the genre and the era.” The album “(took)” I don’t know if emo is the word I would use,” Mills said, “and (put) it into this theatrical, big production, made it more mainstream and influenced a lot of other bands. They pushed the genre forward as a band.” T he semi-t it ula r t rac k was

Mills’ gateway into not only the band, but music itself. By 12, she indulged in the band’s 2004 album “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge,” previously unaware that “music could sound like this or make (her) feel like this.” “Helena,” off of the same album, was what finally got through to Liu on a night playing League of Legends in her sophomore hall, Van Hoosen, when a Spotify shuffle of Flyleaf and Pierce the Veil landed on the track that “struck (her) so hard that it took (her) out of the game.” F r o n t m a n G e r a r d Wa y ’ s “crushing” and “raw” vocals stuck with her and sent her down an MCR rabbit hole. Having really connected

with the grief aspect of “Helena” after a recent loss, she describes her relationship with the band as “very emotional.” Unwavering in her opinion of the “overplayed” anthem, Liu ended up liking a lot of other songs on “The Black Parade” upon her re-listen, such as “I Don’t Love You,” which she calls a “top-tier song.” For both Mills and environmental biology and microbiology senior Kalin Baldwin as children, the band was a way to connect with their older sisters. Starting with songs off the “Danger Days” album, it was something Baldwin “had never heard before, especially so young,” which she loved because it was something for her and her sister to talk about, watch music videos, listen and sing together. Baldwin “never really grew out of listening to them,” and even began to understand the themes that she was too young to relate to before, more in depth around age 17, proving it was never “just a phase.” Out of the so-called “emo trinity” of MCR, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, Baldwin remarks that “the weirder you were, the more you liked (MCR),” recalling wearing a Black Parade album t-shirt at age 10 that scared a kid at her school. Stressing that she doesn’t use the word “weird” with a negative connotation, Baldwin credits the tour with bringing the band back into the mainstream. “With this tour being so huge and so many eyes on the band, I think a lot more people are starting to feel much more comfortable again

with being weird and expressing themselves and tapping into darker themes, which is really cool to see,” Baldwin said. Baldwin has seen the band twice in August 2025 and 2026. She called the shows a “very different experience,” the first as “dipping their toes with the Long Live the Black Parade lore,” while the second was “much more of a show and a lot more theatrical.” “They put on a good show, they know that people deser ve (it) because they waited so long to see this album played,” Baldwin said about the second show loaded with flashing lights and fireworks. The group has also continued to influence Mills’ life and her style since the days of first paychecks spent on band tees and black clothes at Hot Topic. It served as a connecting piece between her and her older and younger sister, and a talking point with a “whole new community” when she joined theatre her senior year. “(They) were there during the rougher parts of my life and in really good parts of my life,” Mills said. “It’s really cool the songs change to what I needed them to be at the time, that’s really special to me.” Baldwin thinks MCR is “making a comeback, having a lot more fun with it now” and anticipates the “open secret” of another album, which she said, “would be really special to see and show others making art that you can always pause, f ig ure t hings out and come back.”

REVIEW: ARE LYRICS LOSING FEELING? By Maria Papalois mpapalois@statenews.com A Michigan State Universit y study on over 38,000 songs found that lyrics in popular music are becoming less and less emotionally 6

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and socially focused. Not all is lost, however; despite the shift in lyrical focus over the decades, there are still artists putting out incredible music that captures the human experience. I’ll never forget the day of TU ESDAY, NOVEMB E R 10, 2026

November 2 , 2023. I was a sophomore in high school, hunched over my cafeteria chicken nuggets, trying not to cry as the voices of John Lennon and Paul McCartney swirled together one last time through my old wired earbuds.

The Beatles released “Now And Then” that day, a remix of one of John Lennon’s home demos completed with advanced music software and the last two Beatles. Music has the power to move me more than any other media

can. A movie scene can be sad in silence, but perhaps with the swell of a somber orchestra, it can be devastating. ABBA’s “Slipping Through My Fingers” in the 2008 jukebox musical “Mamma Mia!” comes to mind. Music is so deeply

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intertwined with human emotion that it might as well be one. What I’ve seen in the past decade in regards to new music is that lyrics are more important than ever. Lyrics can put an unknown artist on the map, due to the influence of social media. One snippet of a song with a relatable verse reposted by thousands of people is what the modern artist strives for. You can’t get your foot in the door without a social media presence, and your listens come from those curious enough to hear the entire song past the snippet circulating on TikTok. Artists promote their songs using various buzzwords; Everyone is always “yearning,” “crashing out,” and in a “situationship.” The artist Sombr is an example. However, I find that even with the heightened focus on lyrics, I am seldom moved by what I hear on the radio. I don’t care to hear another up-and-coming indie artist bemoan missed opportunities in love. In his 2024 single “back to friends,” Sombr sings, “How can you look at me and pretend / I’m someone you never met?” It is certainly meant to be a sad line, but there is no punch behind it. Where is the hurt? Where is the ugliness? Emotions are messy and hard to swallow, but Sombr’s lyrics feel oddly detached from the mess. When Taylor Swift released her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” in April 2024, I remember feeling nothing. Swift had clearly developed in her lyricism, with countless metaphors, idioms and classic literary references sprinkled throughout. Every line was clearly written to be a “lyrical masterpiece,” so much so that it exhausted my poor ears. Lyrics don’t invoke feeling

because they are overly poetic or wordy; they require a naked vulnerability that never came through in Swift’s album. This is not to say that all modern music can’t capture emotion like it did the past. Mitski is an artist who finds a way to debilitate me with every release. She has such a command over language, over the sound accompanying every word, that you can feel the emotion and life experience seep into your bones as the music plays. From Mitski, a line as simple as “I miss you more than anything” in her 2014 track “Francis Forever” guts me. There are no fancy words, no overly complicated figurative language to give the appearance of insightfulness, only true emotion. It may sound like I hate the current popular music scene, which is very untrue. There has never been a shortage of good music. There has also never been a shortage of bad music. Sometimes I like to let the MTV Classic channel play as I lie listlessly in bed. MTV Classic plays only vintage music, mostly from the 1980s. As a result, I have discovered that most of the music in the 1980s was horrible. The channel is a horrific cacophony of generic hair metal and forgotten pop hits that bleed my tender eardrums dry. However, the 1980s also had “Purple Rain” by Prince and “With or Without You” by U2. To answer my own question from the beginning, lyrics are not losing feeling. As I flip between MTV Live and MTV Classic, I encounter the same amount of trash and beauty. Beauty is always found behind the scenes, and to generalize the industry to one trait is to ignore all the talent waiting to be discovered.

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It’s wild, it’s sweeping campus, it’s Fushigi: A weekend with the student band

Fushigi’s Tommy Rabaut and Akul Lingampalli perform at a backyard show in East Lansing, Mich., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. Photo by Ever Pratt-Hart.

By Alyssa Perera aperera@statenews.com Some people, like the semistudent band Fushigi, think it’s fun to smash pumpkins. Within minutes of arriving at their Evergreen Street porch gig on Oct. 16 the residents invited Fushigi to smash their largest porch pumpkin during the set. The five girls booked Fushigi after hearing them play during Welcome Week. One, political science senior Ava Miller, could’ve sworn she heard Geese frontman Cameron Winter’s voice echoing down their street. It was that August evening that Miller and her roommates decided they needed to hear that band, eventually booking Fushigi on their own porch this past weekend to celebrate Miller’s birthday. With two Smashing Pumpkins songs on the setlist and lead guitarist and marketing junior Tommy Rabaut sporting a Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt, Fushigi was quickly drawn to the idea of committing the act while playing a song from the band with its namesake. But they decided it would be too messy for their gear and the girls’ porch. Until, during their sixth and last encore song, a reprise of the Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock,” lead singer Jackson Quillen, lifted the gourd over his head and slammed it into the yard’s sidewalk, which he said was the highlight of the night 8

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and “felt f—ing great.” The gig marked Fushigi’s return after being shut down a month earlier by cops five songs into their set, as well as rhythm guitarist Collin Gurskey’s first show with the band. Though new to the stage, the guitarist lovingly referred to as “Gurskey” has been around for two years. He first jammed with Rabaut in the summer of 2024 after the two graduated from the same high school. Gurskey went over to Rabaut’s house for renditions of Metallica’s “Fade to Black” and Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind.” With video evidence of their first time playing, Gurskey called it “awkward but cool,” to “look back at that and now where we’re at — it’s completely different.” Gurskey and Quillen drove to East Lansing from Grosse Pointe, Mich., and Toledo, Ohio, as they often do on weekends for a Thursday night rehearsal in Rabaut and bassist and film junior Matt McLeod’s Stoddard Avenue basement. A hole-in-the-wall drum set played by 2025 graduate Akul Lingampalli is highlighted in colorful lights against a checkered pattern of black soundproofing and underlying white wall as the band ran through the setlist around the mouth of the “drum cave,” wearing orange earplugs and keeping tempo with Vintage Nikes, Converse — and some in just socks — amid the many TU ESDAY, NOVEMB E R 10, 2026

cords snaking around the room. Eager to play, Gurskey was “ready to put on a good show.” The boys knew how to please the crowd, shuffling instruments during their presumed closing song, Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” as McLeod took center stage with the shoutrap, Quillen went back to his former forte of the drums and Lingampalli plucked bass. The bass “(feels) the most natural,” McLeod said, giving him “complete freedom.” In more than a metaphorical sense, the wireless nature of the instrument allowed him to jump from the porch to the stairs to the yard throughout the gig. In addition to covers of The White Stripes, Dinosaur Jr., Oasis and more, Fushigi also played four original songs, two of which had never been performed for an audience. The goal is to “play a whole set of originals and have people love those songs,” Gurskey said. Having released one of their originals, “Around the Corner,” under his name, Quillen writes most of the material before bringing it to the rest of the band. Once they put their own spin on it, “that’s the band,” he said. McLeod and Quillen especially enjoyed playing “Stone & Sand,” a joint favorite original. Gurskey called the setlist selections “great songs; we love them,” though “we’re not really a cover band; we’re just playing that right now to fill the

time,” Quillen added. Quillen carries on his family’s legacy; he comes from a line of singers with a love of writing songs, saying that’s “where it’s all at for (him).” Singing along to all the words were Fushigi’s close friends in the audience’s front row, including Quillen’s long-time girlfriend, communication leadership and strategy junior Charlotte Derrow, who is a “great friend of ours too,” Rabaut said. Additionally, Derrow helps out with graphic design, merch and the band’s social media. Derrow also played a role in introducing Quillen to the group. Rabaut and McLeod had already met after a high school friend told Rabaut he “had to go play with (McLeod)” and that “(the two) would make a great band.” Rabaut often hopped from Akers Hall to Hubbard Hall to meet another friend, who happened to live on the same floor as Derrow. From there, Rabaut met Quillen and most of their current friend group. Experiences with past bands designated Quillen as Fushigi’s frontman and a chance encounter with Lingampalli at Landshark Bar & Grill landed their drummer. Gurskey’s addition around a month ago solidified the lineup. Rabaut spit out the name Fushigi one night in his sophomore dorm with McLeod prior to the band’s formation. It is an ode to the famous

2000s infomercial advertising a gravity-defying magic ball. It lies among other single-word band names that “mean nothing, but take on a new meaning with the band’s name,” Rabaut said. “Fushigi makes people think,” Gurskey said. Gurskey and Rabaut follow in the footsteps of their guitarist families, inheriting the knowledge and equipment they now share with the band. Lingampalli and McLeod’s musical education in piano and saxophone eventually translated into the world of rock and roll. Grateful for the journey that brought them here, Fushigi shouted out many throughout the show, including their landlord for allowing and even enjoying their late-night basement practices and Two Weeks, the band they collaborated with for their first show in April. October was Fushigi’s busiest month yet, with around five gigs planned. The hope is to expand outside of backyard venues to bars and local clubs. They called the Evergreen Street gig “their best show yet.” Noting that they have “loads of material” to record, Fushigi wants to strengthen their fanbase and “know that wherever we go, we can bring the crowd we brought today, not just in East Lansing,” Quillen said. “When people start asking us where our music is, is when we’ll know to start putting it out.”

ROSSI’S RESILIENT DEFENSE DELIVERS BREAKTHROUGH WIN OVER MICHIGAN

The Michigan State Spartans celebrate with the Paul Bunyan Trophy after beating Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Photo by Graham Holden.

By Tyler Gaylord tgaylord@statenews.com Michigan State head football coach Pat Fitzgerald didn’t have much when he was hired to lead the Spartans in December. Fitzgerald hadn’t coached since the 2022 season, so he didn’t arrive in East Lansing

with a roster or staff built around him. He was starting from scratch. But he didn’t have to go far to find his first coach. He was already in the building when Fitzgerald arrived: defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, the same man who was a driving force behind his first Big Ten win at MSU. “I’m so thankful he chose to stay,” Fitzgerald

said. “He was the first guy to say, ‘Yeah, I believe in you, coach. I want to stay.’” Rossi delivered on Saturday. His defense shut down Michigan’s offense as the Spartans beat the Wolverines 15-6, snapping a six-game losing streak, reclaiming the Paul Bunyan Trophy for the first time since 2021 and earning MSU’s first Big Ten win since Nov. 29, 2025. Fitzgerald’s first Big Ten victory at MSU made him the third Spartans coach to beat Michigan in his first season and the first since Mel Tucker in 2020. “To the Spartan dawgs, to all our former players and to the Spartan Nation. This one’s for you,” Fitzgerald said. “I know we haven’t gotten what you want and what we want as far as wins. But I also told you when I took this job that I know this game just means more.” The tone was set early. A pass tipped by Wolverines wide receiver JJ Buchanan landed in the hands of junior safety Devin Vaught on Michigan’s fourth offensive play. Vaught left shortly into the second quarter and never returned. That has become a familiar story for this defense. A new injury has hit the Spartans nearly every week, from senior linebacker Jordan Hall, the defense’s captain, to senior

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SPORTS lineman Ben Roberts, who had been playing at an All-Big Ten level. The unit has been so thinned out that true freshman cornerback Jeremiah Favorite has been starting since the Illinois game. Saturday was no different, with MSU playing without multiple starters while several others battled through injuries. “We had three defensive starters go down tonight in game,” Fitzgerald said. “So you know, to see the rest of the crew step up, it’s just huge to the assistant coaches on the defensive side of the ball and Joe Rossi.” An injured, constantly changing defense was the shortcoming in two other heartbreaking losses, to Illinois and then-No. 25 Northwestern. MSU clawed back from a 23-7 deficit against the Fighting Illini to force overtime at 31-31. But Illinois scored on the first play of the extra period, putting all the pressure on the offense. The offense answered with a touchdown, then failed on a two-point try for the win. One week later, a blocked Spartan field goal try with a minute left in a 21-21 game gave Northwestern a chance to score. The Wildcats diced through the defense, going 64 yards in 58 seconds to set up a game-winning field goal. The difference Saturday: Rossi’s defense never wavered. It forced three more takeaways after Vaught went out, finished with five sacks and held Michigan to 192 yards and 13 first downs, with only 78 of those yards coming in the first half. The Wolverines were scoreless at halftime against MSU for the first time since 1993 and finished with six points, their fewest in the series since 2013.

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“It’s my senior year; what a great way to end it,” journalism senior Lyric Sloan said. “This is everything Michigan State students have dreamed of. Tom Izzo emphasized that Pat Fitzgerald would be the future of this program.” A couch fire on Albert Avenue and Division Street drew one of the largest crowds. Students clamored to both sides of the street, chanting “burn it” as the MSU fight song blared from a nearby speaker. A resident on the corner welcomed the crowd, shouting their support and throwing toilet paper f rom t heir w indows out onto the street. Accounting freshman Kayla Glazer said she was in awe of the carnage. Her first year as a Spartan quickly became a memorable one. “This doesn’t feel real,” Glazer said. “(I’m) feeling great. The vibes are high. It’s great

to have our first year here.” Meanwhile, MSU fans in Ann Arbor rejoiced as the clock hit zero. “Oh my God, I want to cry right now,” political science sophomore Raymond Boone said inside Michigan Stadium. “It’s like the greatest MSU win of all time. I don’t care about the bowl game. I don’t care about the playoffs. All I care about is this greatest thing in my time as a Michigan State student.” Management junior Tyler Cloft said he was overjoyed by MSU’s victory. “It is a great day to be a Michigan State Spartan in the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan,” Cloft said. “We just won the Paul Bunyan Trophy back for the first time in five years. Vibes are high.” Additional reporting and contribution done by Belle Potter.

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arts.msu.edu TU ESDAY, NOVEMB E R 10, 2026

ROSSI’S RESILIENT DEFENSE DELIVERS BREAKTHROUGH WIN OVER MICHIGAN “I think honestly there’s a true definition of what respond means in our program,” Fitzgerald said. “And you know, they’ve been that definition, and it’s been different guys.” Michigan still had one more push left. The Spartans were 1:35 from becoming the first team to shut out the Wolverines at home since 1967, when Michigan scored a touchdown. Another improbable collapse felt possible with a two-point try coming. Then graduate edge Kenny Soares Jr. sacked quarterback Tommy Carr on the conversion, and the doubt was eliminated. The Spartans beat their in-state rival scoring only on field goals, a first for MSU in the series’ history.

It was more than a rivalry win for a team that is now 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten. It was a program-defining one, the kind that sets a standard and shows a first-year coach’s process is working. “When I was a player, when we were trying to turn a program around, it’s about faith; it’s about having belief without evidence,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t think that has wavered since we’ve gotten together.” MSU looks to build on it next Saturday against Washington (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten). Kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m. at Spartan Stadium, and the game will air on Big Ten Network.

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