Michigan State's wild comeback falls short in OT loss to Illinois

EAST LANSING — The boo birds came out, and then came a Bronx cheer. Until the fourth quarter, the biggest roar at Spartan Stadium came when the videoboard showed hall of fame basketball coach Tom Izzo, who walked through a sparse student section after halftime trying to rally the fans.

Those who stayed witnessed one heck of a comeback, but Michigan State couldn’t finish it off in overtime for a win.

An early 17-point hole put Michigan State behind the ball against Illinois in front of a homecoming crowd at Spartan Stadium. A furious fourth-quarter comeback brought up overtime, and the Spartans went gutsy on a 2-point conversion try, but an incomplete pass left the Spartans short, 38-37, to extend its losing streak to four games.

BOX SCORE: Illinois 38, Michigan State 37 (OT)

On the first play of overtime, Illinois quarterback Michael Clayton II hit receiver Hudson Clement for a 25-yard touchdown. Michigan State receiver Chrishon McCray set the Spartans up 1 yard from paydirt, where a jumbo package look carved the way for Jaziun Patterson’s third touchdown. On a 2-point try, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic took the ball off a trick play pitch and lofted a pass to Jayden Savoury, only for it to fall incomplete.

The result means Michigan State (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) has lost 17 of its past 20 Big Ten games, where its offensive shortcomings and injuries on defense have glared. Against a similarly stumbling Illinois team, the Spartans started slow and missed out on a gamble for the win.

Up next, Michigan State will face Pat Fitzgerald’s alma mater and former team, Northwestern, at Spartan Stadium Oct. 17 for a noon kickoff. Northwestern is off to a 4-1 start under quarterback Aidan Chiles, MSU’s starter the past two seasons.

Another former MSU starter, Katin Houser, led an Illinois (3-3, 1-2) offense that picked apart the MSU defense in the first half. Houser threw 20-for-29 for 194 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game injured after throwing a pick to MSU safety Devin Vaught with 1:41 left in the third quarter.

After Patterson ran the remaining 11 yards to the end zone, he sparked a rally from 13 points down. It was Patterson who tied the game with 1:17 on the clock off a 2-yard rushing touchdown. It was Patterson who set up the game-deciding 2-point conversion with more overtime heroics.

Michigan State’s offense didn’t move the chains for a first down until 8:44 into the second quarter. Though the game began with successive three-and-outs that brought out boos, Milivojevic made a few big throws, including his first touchdown in three games.

A Brennan Parachek fumble ended MSU’s first drive of the second half, which Illinois turned into a 38-yard field goal. Michigan State matched that on its next drive, a 40-yard kick by Liam Boyd set up by a 36-yard sprint from Patterson including a spin-move to break free.

Up 23-17 after Patterson’s first touchdown, Illinois cushioned its lead when backup quarterback Clayton took advantage of two freshman cornerbacks for MSU and threw a 14-yard touchdown to Collin Dixon. Illinois went for two on the conversion, and Aidan Laughery got it on the second try to lead 31-17. But MSU kept chopping.

MSU got down to Illinois’ 43 before facing fourth-and-2. A false start pushed it back, but Fredrick Moore caught the ball past the sticks to keep the offense moving. He caught the next pass for a 24-yard touchdown that got it back to a one-score game, 31-24.

Enter the dramatics.

True freshman Samson Gash grabbed the ensuing onside kick with 7:47 to play, only for an offsides flag to call the play back. Video replay showed he was onside, an unreviewable penalty, but officials reviewed his recovery and determined he caught it out of bounds to give Illinois the ball anyway.

But wait, there’s more. The referee got on the mic once again to say that Gash caught it inbounds after all thanks to “additional video.” Zapruder brought out the kick team once again, and Boyd just kicked it toward the end zone.

MSU stared at a 17-0 hole early after Houser led back-to-back touchdown drives and all four drives for scores in the first half. He threw a 5-yard touchdown to Laughery at 3:21 of the first quarter and scrambled in from 2 yards out at 8:57 of the second quarter after he previously overthrew a receiver.

For the first time in three games, starting linebackers Jordan Hall and Brady Pretzlaff played a drive together, and that gave MSU’s defense a boost to start the game. Each of them left the game on the next series, Hall hurting his arm again and Pretzlaff landing funny on his neck. By the end of the game, backup Dion Crawford also left injured, straining the Spartans’ depth.

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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State’s wild comeback falls short in OT loss to Illinois