Oct 4, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Michigan State Spartans linebacker Wayne Matthews III (white) tackles Nebraska Cornhuskers tight end Heinrich Haarberg (red) at Memorial Stadium. Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

A Complete Recap of MSU vs. Nebraska

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Oct 5, 2025 2:30 PM ET

Michigan State wasn't able to finish off Nebraska, collapsing late in the third quarter and early on in the fourth during the Spartans' 38-27 loss to the Cornhuskers on Saturday evening.

There's a lot to break down from the game, and we're here to do just that. Senior College Football Writer on SI, Hondo Carpenter and Jonathan Schopp go through the defeat and talk about what the result means for Michigan State.

Watch here:

Below is also a transcript of head coach Jonathan Smith's opening statement from after the game.

Jonathan Smith

SMITH: Okay, I'm going to start. Playing these games competitive and whatnot, I got respect for Coach (Matt) Rhule, that program, congratulations to them. They played better than us, especially in the fourth quarter. They earned the win.

We've got to find a way to play better for four quarters. I think about that first half, we're fortunate to be down only seven, going into halftime with a punt blocked for a touchdown, we've turned the thing over, we gave up a 50-yard punt return.

And again, credit to them, maybe schematically and whatnot. I, starting with me, I got to have this team ready to go faster than they did in the first half.

Was pleased defensively getting around the quarterback, really throughout the whole night. This was the top passing offense maybe in the country coming in. I thought we got a lot of that done.

Credit to our guys, start the third quarter, get a stop, get a score, turnover, take the lead. Some of those fourth-down plays were impressive. We had to finish drives. I think we were 4-for-4 on fourth down at that point. So liked that part of taking the lead.

We do, they go right down and score, and then the dam began to break. Got no answer offensively to match a score, let alone the kickoff return. And this ain't easy, the wind was blowing pretty good, but they tied the game up, the ball catches the wind, we don't feel it, short field position again.

Defensively, I thought bowed up, held them to a field goal, but we still just had no answer offensively.

I think the big thing offensively, look at it, it's 2-of-14 on third down. You ain't going to have much success doing that. So we've got to give them a better plan. We've got to execute it better.

We're back to the balance. I didn't love some of the run game to start the third quarter. That's why some of the fourth downs came up so huge.

We've got to find a way to keep pushing, staying together. It's just what I told them. If we're going to finish better, we've got to stay together. We've got to play better.