Northwestern nips Michigan State, ex-coach Pat Fitzgerald 24-21 in down-to-wire affair

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Pat Fitzgerald was going to get his win, and it would feel mighty good.

At least, that’s what it looked like after Northwestern tried and failed to convert on a fake punt from its own 28-yard line with three-plus minutes left in a 21-21 game against Michigan State.

A fake from there on fourth-and-eight? Really?

It was a “horrible” decision, Wildcats coach David Braun admitted about a ruse that went nowhere, upback Alex Honig taking the snap and throwing over the heads of teammate Robby Preckel and the pair of Spartans who had him blanketed.

“But this team had my back,” Braun said.

The defense held, and 6-4 lineman Brendan Flakes — one of more than 30 players on this Northwestern team who were recruited to the school by Fitzgerald — got an extra-large mitt on Spartans kicker Liam Boyd’s 33-yard field goal attempt with 1:05 to go.

Quarterback Aidan Chiles — a former Spartan — led the Wildcats 64 yards in 58 seconds to set up Jackson Kleather for a 34-yarder with two seconds left in a 24-21 win.

That meant no triumphant moment for Fitzgerald over the school that fired him in 2023 amid a hazing investigation. Fitzgerald later filed a $130 million wrongful-termination suit against his alma mater, with which he reached a hefty settlement agreement 14 months ago.

The legendary Wildcats linebacker and 17-year head coach is 2-5 in this second act with the Spartans, having lost four in a row — the last two, including a 38-37 overtime game here against Illinois, in excruciating fashion.

“I get paid to win and we’re not winning, so it starts and ends with me,” Fitzgerald said.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats, who came in ranked for the first time since the end of the 2020 season, are soaring at 5-1, their only loss having come at defending national champion Indiana.

“I think I counted like 34 guys on the roster that we recruited, and I’m really proud of those guys,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re playing at a really high level and watching the way that they’ve grown and developed, David’s done a fabulous job and so has his staff, so credit to them.”

It was a huge moment for Chiles, who started for two most of two seasons here until current Spartans starter Alessio Milivojevic took his job with four games left in 2025. Milivojevic threw for two touchdowns against the Wildcats but twice overthrew wide-open receivers on deep shots that should’ve been touchdowns. Chiles was money on the winning drive, hitting Caleb Komolafe for 21 yards, Griffin Wilde for 12 and Wilde again for 17 before a 14-yard Komolafe run.

“I’m just a little too excited to talk to you all right now, to be honest, [even though] I don’t look it,” Chiles said. “I’m trying to keep my emotions intact right now.”

It had to be extra gratifying considering “[Expletive] you, Aidan Chiles” chants the quarterback reported hearing from the stands.

“That was the best part, though,” he said. “I appreciate it, to be honest.”

There were no such chants aimed at the new coach with the losing record. It’s far too soon for that given MSU’s 4-8 record last season and 61 newcomers on the roster.

But will Fitzgerald — who won 110 games and took 10 teams to bowls at Northwestern — get it going here? He promised before the season, “I know what I’m doing. The blueprint is there.”

Two days before this game, the biggest star in Spartan land — basketball coach Tom Izzo — threw his support behind Fitzgerald during a press conference.

“For all of you,” Izzo said, “I’ll bet you this football program is going somewhere in the very near future. …

“I hope you’ll hang with them like I’m going to and believe in them like I do, because I believe in the man leading us. And that’s what’s important.”

Fitzgerald has shown as much emotion in green as he ever did in purple. After a successful onside kick against Illinois was negated by a questionable penalty call, he flipped the bird in the general direction of the refs, for which he later apologized. A week later, he entered the student section during pregame to juice up the fans for Northwestern. During the Wildcats’ first possession, he walked the length of the sideline, throwing his arms in the air to rile up the crowd. After the Spartans took a 14-10 lead just before halftime, he walked all the way from the sideline to the hashmarks during a timeout, clapping, waving and punching a fist in the air.

But it was just another game, according to Fitzgerald.

“I don’t think it was a very emotional game, to be honest with you,” he said. “I think it was two Big Ten teams that really respected each other and went toe to toe. I think that was what you all tried to create, a narrative — some of you folks, not everybody — but some folks tried to create a narrative that it was about Aidan and I. It’s not about that. It’s about the teams and [all] the players.”

Fitzgerald getting the better of Northwestern would’ve been a heck of a story, though.

“Never in doubt,” he said. “We knew we were going to win this game. We just didn’t know how.”