Yes! No. Maybe? Week 10 a triumph for MSU, CMU as UM, EMU are sent reeling

There were just two games for FBS football teams in Michigan in Week 10, as Western Michigan had an idle week and the other four teams played each other. 

Central Michigan rolled past Eastern Michigan, 35-7, in Motor City MACtion on Wednesday night at Ford Field and then Michigan State ground out a girding rivalry win, 15-6, over Michigan on Saturday night. 

That performance for the Wolverines resulted in the firing of offensive coordinator Jason Beck, officially confirmed and announced by Michigan on Sunday afternoon. But Beck’s ouster is just one of many bits of fallout from the Week 10 action. 

Dig in to the highs and lows. 

Yes!

Joe Rossi and Michigan State’s defensive performance: The Spartans slammed the door on the Wolverines, and while Michigan’s offense is putrid to begin with, don’t be mistaken that it was Rossi and his crew wreaking extra havoc on Saturday night. MSU got four takeaways, sacked Tommy Carr five times, held Michigan to 54 rushing yards, and Michigan went 3-of-10 on third downs. Michigan had fewer than 200 yards. And with so many players hurt and in and out of the lineup all season, Rossi deserves all sorts of credit for how this group played. And Rossi’s fervent, celebratory antics on the sideline as he defense ran off after each stop might be a quietly defining image of the performance. 

The Michigan state players: It would be very, very easy for this collection of players to have more or less punted and be looking ahead to their 2027 season, either in East Lansing or elsewhere. But to the credit of all the players in the locker room, the Spartans haven’t wavered in fight or focus this season. They might be a bit less talented and way more hurt than a lot of their opponents, but the belief and love the Spartan players professed for each other postgame is a window into how they crystallized into the confident squad that took it to Michigan on Saturday night. 

CMU QB Jadyn Glasser: He went 14-of-19 for 175 yards and a touchdown vs. EMU, and is now 32-of-50 for 396 yards and two touchdowns in his first two starts. Glasser looks like a confident, collected passer and delivered some big downfield throws vs. the Eagles. He’s playing the way the CMU coaching staff had probably hope he could, and are bullish that with a foundation of clean, confident play that Glasser can keep it rolling. And if he does, the Chippewas could be rolling through the end of the season. 

CMU putting EMU in the game script blender: At halftime of this game, CMU led 21-0 and EMU had barely had the ball. And when the Chippewas are at their best under Matt Drinkall, they can play teams out of games easily, leaning on a rushing game that just seems to always go forward while slowing the game down and eating up time of possession. Pair that with a defense that smothered the Eagles (more on that in a moment) and Central Michigan can snatch the opponent’s soul in an almost boring fashion that’s all the more frustrating. 

CMU’s defense: Central Michigan allowed 177 yards to Eastern Michigan, the fewest in a MAC game since 2014. And the Eagles didn’t break the shutout until the final minute, as Jace Stuckey completed a pass to Harold Mack in the end zone in a scramble situation. It wasn’t a shock that EMU’s offense didn’t shine with backup Brogan McCaughey starting at quarterback and some offensive line dings, but the Eagles couldn’t run it, couldn’t pass it, and didn’t get a second first down until the Chippewas had the backups in late on defense. Just an all around excellent performance from the CMU defense, which didn’t even need to cause much havoc. 

No. 

UM HC Kyle Whittingham: This blurb was originally going to include Jason Beck, but the news of his firing broke literally as it was being written. It was a necessary move, if for no other reason than Whittingham’s own self-preservation. Which brings it back to this, even if Beck was rightly in the crosshairs for Michigan’s anemic offense: The head coach is never going to fire themselves. And while ousting Beck will buy back a little bit of goodwill, it’s reasonable to wonder if things aren’t already too far gone for the Kyle Whittingham experiment at Michigan. 

Another non-starter big game performance from EMU: Much like opening flat and failing to make an impact in a blowout loss to Toledo, the Eagles fell flat against Central Michigan in a big spot on Wednesday. EMU arrived at Ford Field with a chance to get back to .500 and be a win away from a bowl with two to go, and set itself up for a chance at the Michigan MAC trophy with a win, just needing to beat WMU on Nov. 17. Then the game started and the Eagles ran nine offensive plays on its first three drives, CMU rolled out to a multi-score lead, and that was that. It’s a frustrating trend, and now has EMU with its back against the wall to make a bowl. 

Michigan’s run game: This group put out a season-low 54 yards on 26 carries on Saturday night vs. Michigan State, and got swarmed by the Spartans. The 3rd and 1 call in the red zone where Michigan State defenders were seemingly in the backfield at the snap stood out as a particular embodiment of just how bad things have been for this part of Michigan’s offense. The offensive line has been banged up but also inexplicably regressing, as are the running backs. No amount of clever scheming has overcome that fact, which seems to be downstream of a lack of comfort and confidence. Either way, no bueno — and finally enough to get Beck fired. 

Michigan field goal kicking: Trey Butkowski struggled in the last two games, so Michigan opened up a competition during the week and Jacob Baggett came out to kick the first (and only) field goal attempt of the game for Michigan. It hit the upright from close range and produced a doink that the internet loved for its acoustics, but the Wolverines will not be loving the lack of confidence in the kicking game right now. And with how close some games have been for Michigan with a lights out defense and the offense struggling, the ability to nail some field goals would be of big value. 

EMU’s bowl chances: At 4-6, Eastern Michigan has to win its final two games to get to automatic bowl eligibility. That would involve winning on Nov. 17 at Western Michigan, and then at home on Nov. 24 vs. Kent State. The Eagles have the upside if health can come through, but it’d still be something of an upset for this squad to go on the road and win in Kalamazoo as WMU gets revved up to compete for the MAC title again. Kent State is beatable, if it gets that far. The real factor at play here is health. If the Eagles can’t get some key pieces back, namely quarterback Noah Kim, this might be a season full of retroactive what ifs. 

Maybe?

Bryce Underwood gets another look: Whittingham said it was considered against MSU, but never happened, obviously, and with Beck being fired it’s hard to say what interim OC Jim Harding will do. Either way, while Tommy Carr has been generally passable, he’s clearly not ready to thrive yet and doesn’t have the sort of physical tools to make random good stuff happen (or get himself into trouble) that Underwood possesses. Going back to the sophomore won’t be a cure all for Michigan’s offense, but he just seems to have more upside on physical talent alone, and upside that Michigan could really benefit from at the moment. 

Michigan is about to miss a bowl: Michigan has five wins. It needs to win one of its final three games to make a bowl. The Wolverines travel to Oregon this upcoming weekend, in what looks like a more difficult game than it did a week or two ago, as the Ducks found some swagger in broad siding Ohio State. Then UCLA visits Ann Arbor, and Bob Chesney will bring the sort of rugged defense-and-running machine that Michigan hoped to be to Michigan Stadium. Then, of course, is a trip to Columbus, and no matter how much Ohio State is reeling, the Buckeyes at home are formidable. Could it be 5-6 Michigan vs. 6-5 Ohio State to end the season? Either way, an 0-3 end isn’t out of the question for Michigan. 

MSU reels off three more wins to get bowl eligible: Michigan State is now 3-6 with three games left: vs. Washington, vs. Oregon, at Rutgers. Rutgers is bad but has some pop offensively, Washington is outright bad, and Oregon, again, has a bit of mojo right now. But you know who else has mojo? Michigan State after bulldozing the Wolverines on Saturday night. If the Spartans pick off a win against Washington this weekend and get a smidgeon healthier, look out for what Pat Fitzgerald and Co might do down the stretch. 

WMU is the best team in the state: WMU officially lost to Michigan, yes, but looked like the better team much of that game, and has gotten better in ways Michigan has not. The Broncos also beat the Chippewas already. They’ll get a shot against EMU, too. And then that leaves the hypothetical Michigan State matchup for WMU. With injuries being what they are, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine Broc Lowry and the improved WMU passing offense and that rugged offensive line with Jalen Buckley producing a much better day against the Spartan defense than Michigan did — namely not turning it over constantly — all while the WMU defense keeps the Spartans in check. It’s all hypothetical, and MSU holds a transitive win over WMU (MSU beat Toledo, Toledo beat WMU), but it doesn’t strain credulity to think WMU could beat the rest of the FBS teams in state on a neutral field. 

CMU had a self-actualized performance: There are the ways coaches describe how they want to play, and there is the way their respective teams play. There is often a gulf between ideas and reality. Sometimes, that gulf goes away, as it might’ve on Wednesday night for Central Michigan, which played outstanding defense, ran the ball effectively all night, and got consistent, explosive production from the passing offense as desired. There are finer points to clean up and plays the Chippewas might still want to have back, but the way it looked and all fit together is close to how Matt Drinkall and Co. have often described it looking.