Michigan State Is Getting Close: Wins Will Come

The Michigan State Spartans are just two plays away from being 2-3 in conference play and riding a two-game winning streak that includes a victory over a ranked opponent.

Instead, those two plays went in favor of their opponents, and the Spartans are riding a five-game losing streak, including two losses by a combined four points over the past two weeks.

Although there is no such thing as a moral victory in sports, especially for a Power Four program with a College Football Playoff appearance in its history, Pat Fitzgerald and his team should be holding their heads high and maintaining confidence in the locker room.

Fitzgerald knew the task would be daunting when he took the Michigan State head coaching job. He inherited a program that had gone through years of struggles and had just one conference win remaining in the record books over its previous 34 conference games. The Spartans had won other conference games, but those victories were vacated and no longer counted in the official records.

The roster was also depleted when Fitzgerald arrived. He watched the team's leading passer, rusher and receiver all enter the transfer portal and leave East Lansing.

Aidan Chiles, the Spartans' leading passer, was benched last season by former head coach Jonathan Smith before transferring to Northwestern this offseason. Chiles got his revenge against his former team when the Wildcats blocked a go-ahead field goal attempt. Northwestern then took advantage of the opportunity, with Chiles leading the Wildcats down the field before putting the final nail in the coffin of his revenge game.

That blocked field goal was one of two plays that could have changed the course of Michigan State's season.

The other came two weeks ago against Illinois, when a two-point conversion attempt decided the Spartans' fate. Michigan State tried its own version of the Philly Special, with a backup running back taking the snap and tossing the ball to a reversing Alessio Milivojevic. Milivojevic attempted to complete a pass for the two points that would have given the Spartans the win, but Illinois held its ground and forced an incompletion.

Since being blown out by Nebraska and Wisconsin, Michigan State has flipped a switch. The Spartans have gone wire to wire in their last two games, held a halftime lead against now-No. 24 Northwestern and come within one play of winning both contests.

Winning football games is difficult at every level. For a team that has struggled to find things going its way, learning how to close out games can take time. The Spartans are getting closer, and the progress is becoming harder to ignore.

The season hasn't gone the way Fitzgerald hoped, but there is still time to turn things around. Making a bowl game might be a difficult task, with Michigan State needing to win four of its final five games, but winning two or three of those contests and ending the season on a positive note is certainly within reach.

Times are changing in East Lansing, and Fitzgerald is the right man for the job. The Spartans are getting close, and they have another opportunity to prove it this weekend when they travel across the country to face the No. 9 UCLA Bruins.

Michigan State has come up just short in recent weeks, but the progress is there. Now, the Spartans need to turn those near misses into victories. The wins will come if they continue to build on what they've shown over the past two games.