Michigan
Michigan State football winners & losers: Run game favors Spartans on both sides of ball
MSU football: Video analysis of the Spartans’ 24-17 loss at Michigan
Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch and Detroit Free Press MSU beat writer Chris Solari break down the Spartans’ 24-17 loss at Michigan.
Free PRess sports writer Chris Solari reviews the Michigan State football players who helped or hurt their stock in the Spartans’ 24-17 loss Saturday night at Michigan.
Winners
LOOKING AHEAD: What we learned at U-M, what to watch vs. Indiana
RB Nate Carter
For a kid who grew up in upstate New York dreaming of playing for U-M, Carter ran with a personal and punishing mission statement against the Wolverines. The junior, in his second season after transferring from Connecticut, posted his MSU-best 118 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries while establishing a new personal high with 56 receiving yards on two catches. It was Carter’s first time back in Michigan Stadium since 2022 with the Huskies, when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury after running six times for 21 yards.
RG Brandon Baldwin
After playing exclusively at left tackle for two seasons at MSU, two injuries in the first three weeks necessitated the fifth-year senior’s move to the interior. Considering how entirely lost he looked in his baptism at Boston College, Saturday’s road-grading performance against U-M was an entirely different beast. Carter followed his big blocker for his 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and Baldwin and center Tanner Miller helped create creases off the right side for the Spartans to outrush the Wolverines, 163-119.
Run defense
For the second straight game, following the containment of Iowa star Kaleb Johnson last week, MSU’s front seven squelched its opponent’s rushing attack. The Spartans held U-M’s top rusher, Kalel Mullings, to just 18 yards on 13 carries and stuffed Donovan Edwards for 24 yards on nine attempts. MSU, however, found minimal success in stopping quarterback Alex Orji, who led the Wolverines with 64 yards and a touchdown on just six carries. The Spartans now rank 45th in the nation at 129.6 yards allowed on the ground per game.
Losers
Pass rush
While the front seven neutered the U-M running backs all night, the Spartans continued to struggle with getting to opposing quarterbacks. MSU failed to get a sack for the fourth straight game against Big Ten competition after opening the season with 15 sacks in the first four games. Some of that came from Wolverines quarterback Davis Warren throwing just 19 times, but the Spartans have not had a sack in more than a month, a stretch of 257 minutes and 53 seconds of game play. Their last came when defensive end Anthony Jones dropped Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos with 2:53 left in the third quarter on Sept. 21.
FEELING SICK: Michigan State football laments missed chances at U-M: ‘We should have won this game’
Special teams
The Spartans struggled in all three phases against U-M, but they also had issues among multiple special teams units. It started with Jonathan Kim missing a chip-shot field-goal attempt that cost MSU points on the first drive of the game. It continued with a botched fair catch call by upback Sam Edwards with Alante Brown snagging a kickoff early in the second half, pinning the Spartans at their 5-yard line. Then after a Kim field goal, the kickoff unit gave a slight tell that an onside kick was coming to tip off the Wolverines to recover (and MSU also was offsides on the dribbler). Losing long snapper Kaden Schickel to an apparently significant left leg injury could eventually become problematic, as the James Madison transfer had been spectacularly steady through the first eight games.
LB Jordan Turner
The between-periods review of Turner’s hit on an Orji run on the final play of the third quarter cost the Spartans one of their best defenders and captains. Turner’s loss was felt quickly later in that drive as the Wolverines exploited safety Malik Spencer’s aggressiveness trying to help the linebackers against the run, with Edwards delivering a halfback pass for a touchdown to Colston Loveland that ultimately proved to be the winning score. Equally as costly for MSU is losing Turner for the first half of next week’s game against No. 13 Indiana due to NCAA targeting rules.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Michigan
College basketball roundup: No. 6 Michigan hits 90 for sixth time, routs Oakand
Ann Arbor – Olivia Olson had 23 points and No. 6 Michigan rolled past Oakland 97-54 on Sunday.
Syla Swords had 18 points and Brooke Quarles Daniels scored 11. Te’Yala Delfosse and Ashley Sofilkanich had 10 points apiece. Mila Holloway had seven assists to surpass 200 for her career. The Wolverines (10-1) reached the 90-point mark for the sixth time this season.
Michigan scored 29 points off 27 Golden Grizzlies turnovers. Wolverines opponents are averaging 25.8 turnovers per game. The Wolverines also converted 21 offensive rebounds into 31 points and their reserves outscored Oakland’s bench 26-0.
Lianna Baxter led the Golden Grizzlies (3-9), who have lost five straight, with 14 points. Angie Smith had 13 points and eight rebounds and Makenzie Luehring also scored 13.
Olson and Swords combined for 25 first-half points as Michigan built a 54-27 halftime lead.
The Golden Grizzlies committed turnovers on their first three possessions. The Wolverines forced 15 turnovers before the break, converting them into 17 points. They also scored 18 points off 11 offensive rebounds.
Michigan has won nine straight against Oakland.
Michigan
Epstein files reveal ties to Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Justice Department released thousands of pages on the Epstein files including letters, transcripts and images.
Court documents show that a 13-year-old girl was Epstein’s first known victim. The allegations against him trace back to a summer camp at Interlochen in 1994.
A lawsuit filed in New York in May 2020 accuses Epstein and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell of years of abuse.
The victim, Jane Doe, claims she met the two at Interlochen Arts Camp in 1994, an area about 20 minutes southwest of Traverse City.
The lawsuit outlines Epstein and Maxwell would take her to movies and shopping and eventually started making sexual references.
When she was 14, she visited Mar-a-Lago, where she was introduced to Donald Trump. Records allege Epstein elbowed Trump and asked him in reference to the girl “This is a good one, right?”
Abuse continued to escalate over the next few years. The girl eventually moved to New York. When she was 17, she alleged Epstein raped her and on multiple occasions after that.
Epstein’s ties to Interlochen was highlighted in testimony from the group’s vice president of finance.
A letter from the group to Epstein thanked him for his $200,000 donation. It was money that went towards building a two-bedroom home known as the Green Lake Lodge, formerly known as the Epstein Scholarship Lodge.
An Interlochen spokesperson sent News 8 a statement Saturday.
“Interlochen is committed to ensuring a safe, nurturing environment in which our students can excel. We currently have a wide range of measures in place to ensure a safe, supportive environment for all students,” part of the statement read.
“To learn more about our comprehensive safety protocols, please visit our dedicated webpage, where you’ll find detailed information about our practices and approach. The well-being of our students will always be our highest priority.
“As has been previously publicized, Jeffrey Epstein attended Interlochen in the summer of 1967, and he was a donor to Interlochen Center for the Arts from 1990 to 2003.
“When Interlochen administrators learned of Epstein’s conviction in 2008, Interlochen conducted an internal review and found no record of complaint or concern about Epstein. All donor recognition in his name was removed from campus at that time. Subsequent to Epstein’s second arrest in July 2019, we again reviewed our records and found no report or complaint involving Epstein within our records.
“In keeping with our commitment to child welfare and to candor with our community, we have issued prior public statements about Epstein’s connection to Interlochen and cooperated with prosecutors and several inquiries by the media. And we encourage anyone who may have been impacted by sexual abuse, by Epstein, or any member of the Interlochen community, to report their experience and seek assistance.”
Michigan
Big Ten program to hire Alabama QB coach Nick Sheridan as OC
Michigan State is expected to hire Alabama QBs coach Nick Sheridan as its next offensive coordinator, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. Sheridan also serves as the Crimson Tide’s co-offensive coordinator.
Sheridan arrived at Alabama in 2024 as offensive coordinator and took on co-offensive coordinator duties this season as Ryan Grubb arrived in Tuscaloosa. He previously worked with Kalen DeBoer at Washington as tight ends coach after spending time on the staff at Indiana from 2017-21.
A Michigan alumnus, Sheridan started his coaching career at nearby Saline (Mich.) in 2010. His hire is notable for Pat Fitzgerald as he takes over at Michigan State.
After his season as the quarterbacks coach at Saline, Sheridan broke into college football as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky in 2011. He then became the pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USF in 2013 before three seasons as a graduate assistant at Tennessee from 2014-16.
In 2017, Sheridan became Indiana’s quarterbacks coach and moved to tight ends coach in 2019, which is when DeBoer joined the staff. He then took over as offensive coordinator from 2020-21 after DeBoer’s departure for Fresno State and joined him at Washington in 2022.
Nick Sheridan would be the latest high-profile hire for Fitzgerald, who’s preparing for his first year at Michigan State. The Spartans are also adding Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed. Woods is expected to stay with Iowa through the bowl game before becoming MSU’s special teams coordinator and assistant head coach.
“I know it was a tough decision for him, and it was a really good opportunity for him to consider,” Ferentz told reporters this week. “We’ve had several coaches have that opportunity, as well. Just first and foremost, just want to congratulate him on that and just share a couple words about LeVar.
“He was on the team when I got here in December of ’98 and was a veteran player, one of the good veteran players that we had, and was a really big part of helping try to build this thing when we got started. Obviously a good player but more importantly a real leader and a guy who had helped set tempo and was really responsive to the way we were doing things.”
-
Iowa7 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Iowa1 week agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Maine6 days agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
Maryland1 week agoFrigid temperatures to start the week in Maryland
-
South Dakota1 week agoNature: Snow in South Dakota
-
New Mexico5 days agoFamily clarifies why they believe missing New Mexico man is dead
-
Detroit, MI6 days ago‘Love being a pedo’: Metro Detroit doctor, attorney, therapist accused in web of child porn chats
-
Education1 week agoOpinion | America’s Military Needs a Culture Shift