Michigan State loses 38-37 to Illinois in OT after Fitzgerald goes for two

Michigan State went for the win in overtime Saturday night at Spartan Stadium and didn't get it. The Spartans' two-point conversion attempt failed, and Illinois left East Lansing with a 38-37 victory.

The call will get picked apart all week. Paul Konyndyk of On3's SpartanMag wrote that the night still told fans something about head coach Pat Fitzgerald. In his postgame takeaways, Konyndyk argued that no one around the program has any interest in moral victories. He also said a head coach who shows his emotions and fights for his players is a welcome sight for a fan base that has been waiting for a reason to believe.

That is the core of his column. A one-point overtime loss goes in the standings like any other loss, and the Spartans will get no credit in the Big Ten race for pushing a conference opponent to the final snap. But the way Fitzgerald handled it matters too. He kept his kicker on the sideline and put the game on one play, and he coached with visible intensity on the sideline. Konyndyk presented that as something Michigan State supporters can rally around while the results catch up.

The decision to go for two has started its own debate inside SpartanMag. Jim Comparoni wrote a separate analysis asking whether it was the right call to try for the conversion instead of kicking the extra point and playing another overtime period. It's an old argument in college football. Going for two in overtime cuts out the coin-flip feel of extra periods, but it also means one stop can end the game, which is what Illinois got.

For Illinois, the win counts for more than the narrow margin suggests. Big Ten road wins are hard to come by, and the Illini survived a game that could have gone either way at the end. They leave East Lansing with a conference victory that could matter later in the fall.

For Michigan State, the question is whether a performance like this one builds into something. Close losses can bring a locker room together or wear it down. Under Fitzgerald, the Spartans have shown they will play aggressively when the game is on the line. The next step is turning that approach into wins in the conference.

The Spartans now have a week to look back at the overtime sequence and move on. As Konyndyk framed it, Michigan State fans want wins, not consolation. They have seen they have a coach who will put his team in position to go get one.