Yes! No. Maybe? Week 7 sees MSU lose in brutal fashion, Tommy Carr jumpstart UM, WMU retain Victory Cannon

Saturday was One Of Those Days in college football, with five of the Top 10 teams in the country losing (albeit with two Top 10-on-Top 10 matchups being played) while chaos tended to reign elsewhere.

Michigan State and it's ending vs. Northwestern fits in that chaotic blend, as does Central Michigan's attempted furious comeback that came close but didn't get the Chippewas out of the hole they'd dug vs. Western Michigan in a major rivalry showdown in Mt. Pleasant.

Eastern Michigan, however, just got outright beat up by Toledo in a major letdown, and Michigan has en route to a disappointing offensive day until Tommy Carr came in for Bryce Underwood in the second half, sparked a 21-point outburst, and helped the Wolverines best Penn State.

Dig in to the highs, lows and everything in between from the weekend.

Yes!

Jalen Buckley, WMU OL: Buckley starred on Saturday for WMU, as the Broncos rolled out to a 21-0 lead and an eventual 21-14 win over Central Michigan to retain the Victory Cannon Trophy. And it was evident early that Buckley could have such a game, as WMU went to the back seven times out of nine plays on its first touchdown drive. Buckley ended the day with 24 carries for 150 yards and two touchdowns; WMU finished with 272 yards total and attempted just eight passes. And the offensive line deserves plenty of credit for this performance, too, as Buckley had plenty of plays where he got up to the second level before a defender even had a shot at him. When Buckley runs like did on Saturday, and the OL imposes its will, the Broncos are a force on offense. 

Western Michigan survives whirlwind ending to retain Victory Cannon, outlast Central Michigan

The Victory Cannon will stay in Kalamazoo for another year as CMU's frenetic comeback efforts were turned back by the Broncos.

Mitten FootballAndrew Graham

Michigan QB Tommy Carr: While Saturday’s second half relief effort can’t quite be sorted as noise or signal as to what Michigan might do at quarterback going forward — plenty of starters have been benched for a half and later retook the job, and plenty haven’t — Carr’s performance was an emphatic jolt for the Wolverines offense. After that unit looked moribund once more in the first half, the Wolverines turned to Carr to run the show in the second half and the true freshman and Michigan legacy delivered with two rushing touchdowns as Michigan scored 21 second half points and won. On the most rudimentary of levels, the offense functioned at a level that it simply did not with Bryce Underwood running the show. And even if the coaching staff just planned on benching Underwood for a half as something of a reset, Carr might force their hand. 

Michigan’s defense, turnovers becoming points: A big reason Michigan did score 21 points is the defense showing up and producing a number of short fields. First was Rod Moore’s pick, which set up Michigan for a two play, 43 yard scoring drive to take a 7-3 lead. Then Chris Bracy intercepted a pass from PSU QB Rocco Becht at the UM 26 and the Wolverines went on their lone extended scoring drive, 11 plays for 74 yards and a TD. It was Bracy again (more on him in a second) that forced a fumble to set up Michigan’s final touchdown, a 13 yard drive in three plays to take a 21-11 lead 2:58 left in the game. That’s 21 points off all three of Penn State’s turnovers. That’ll win you a lot of games. 

Michigan S Chris Bracy: Bracy was on fire in Saturday’s game, and produced something of a football version of the Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) with a sack, forced fumble and interception all in one game. And as mentioned above, the turnovers were critical in Michigan’s efforts to kickstart the offense. He also finished with eight tackles, third for the team on the day. Bracy has for much of the season been a quieter presence in the Michigan defense, mostly delivering some big hits and being the sort of steady force at safety that makes a defense tick. But he delivered a game-changing performance on Saturday for Michigan. 

Alessio Milivojevic letting it rip: Milivojevic looked good throwing down the field on Saturday, hitting long connections of 29, 32 and 53 yards, the latter two going for touchdowns. While MSU ended up losing, it was not for lack of Milivojevic giving the Spartans chances. His throw to Bryson Williams for 32 yards was an impressive throw and a nice individual play by the receiver, and Milivojevic’s 53 yard touchdown pass to Chrishon McCray might’ve been the best throw he’s made this year, or since taking over as MSU’s quarterback, more generally. The ability to deliver accurate downfield throws has been a strong part of Milivojevic’s game through the first 11 games of his starting run. The Spartans just really need to get a Big Ten win across the finish line. 

No. 

Eastern Michigan falling flat: The Eagles hosted the biggest MAC game at Rynearson Stadium in a good long while, promoting heavily for homecoming with the team at 3-0 in conference play and hosting a Toledo program that, despite a new head coach, has been at the top of the MAC for the better part of the last 10 years. And EMU just got destroyed in the first half, going down 17-0 and then eventually trailing 31-7 at the half and 34-7 early in the third quarter. EMU just never gave itself much of a chance, getting down big and struggling to move the ball, particularly on the ground. It’s a disappointing turn in a season that was building a lot of promise. And it’s worth acknowledging the brutal injury luck this team endured, but Saturday’s outing was just a nonstarter for EMU. 

Central Michigan’s offense: The Chippewas got shutout through three quarters and only scored as they started to get desperate late vs. WMU in a 21-0 hole. A couple big throws from Angel Flores to Langston Lewis and then Jaden Allen got CMU down the field for one touchdown and then the Chippewas managed to churn out another one late, finished off by Jadyn Glasser after Angel Flores took a massive hit that resulted in Joey Pope being ejected for targeting and Flores leaving the game with a presumed concussion. But the CMU offense, despite moving the ball OK in some spells, just doesn’t have the juice to play from behind very well. Flores also carried the ball 31 times, as his usage has been high. The bottom line is 28 points total across the last two MAC games, all coming after CMU had gone down by 31 and 21, respectively, is just not good enough production from the offense. 

Central Michigan’s defense through 40 minutes: The Chippewas opened with a three and out defensively and hemmed in Western Michigan late as the Broncos got a bit conservative, but the first 40 minutes of Saturday just weren’t very good by the CMU defense. Outside of bleeding out some clock on a two play drive before half, WMU scored touchdowns on three-straight drives. The first was nine plays for 63 yards, the second went 13 plays and 89 yards and the last went 14 for 86 yards. Broc Lowry went 4-of-4 passing with a touchdown in the first half as the CMU defense just didn’t have answers to stop the downhill run game of WMU, which opened up easy passes for Lowry, including his touchdown to Nate Levicki. The CMU defense ultimately only gave up 272 yards and just the three scoring drives, but in a low possession grind of a game, letting the Broncos march forth as such put the Chippewas in too big of a hole. 

Eastern Michigan’s defense: The Eagles had been so good on this side of the ball this year relative to 2025. They aren’t stalwarts, but the EMU defense has made the plays it needs to make and been sound enough to give the Eagles chances. Not on Saturday vs. Toledo. The Eagles allowed Toledo QB John Alan Richter to complete 24 of 30 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown while hitting plenty of downfield passes, including a long of 45. And the rush defense got bowled over for EMU, allowing 192 net yards on 20 carries and three rushing scores. EMU’s defense didn’t record a sack or a turnover, either. Just a bad day at the office. 

Michigan State’s end game: Getting the ball at the Northwestern 28 with 3:29 left in a tie game after a fake punt from the Wildcats, MSU had a pretty easy task of bleeding the clock down as close to zero and kicking a field goal to win — or just find the end zone, defend whatever time is left, and hope the Wildcats don’t force overtime. MSU played for the former, it seems, running it with Jaziun Patterson five straight times, four of them up the middle, and getting dinged by a Trent Fraley illegal snap penalty. Then the field goal got blocked and Michigan State had taken 2:29 off the clock, leaving the Wildcats a minute, which they used to drive for a game winning field goal. And while Northwestern did deftly use its timeouts as MSU had the ball, perhaps a pass on 3rd and 12 from the Spartans, to try and convert and end regulation on your terms, could’ve been the way. Because at that point, setting up the fourth down field goal attempt — make or miss (or block) — meant the Wildcats were going to get the ball back. And when they did, they snatched the win away. And it’s just a brutal way for MSU to lose. 

Maybe?

EMU can still contend in the MAC: Saturday’s disappointing performance aside, EMU is still 3-1 in the league and has every ability to get right and reel off a strong finish to the year. Some difficult games remain, starting this week on the road at Ohio. And the biggest factor between the Eagles fading down the stretch and finding a way to finish strong may be health. This team is dealing with a brutal spell of injuries early on this year and it’s started to show as the lack of continuity in some spots might be preventing things like the offensive line from clicking. Saturday was a bitter pill to swallow, but it doesn’t mean the Eagles are doomed. A corner health and performance-wise needs to be turned down the stretch, though. 

Bryce Underwood plays again for Michigan this season: While it’s very easy in the moment to anoint Tommy Carr as the new starting quarterback, and he may well have earned the nod, it’s also quite possible Saturday was not the last we’ll see of Bryce Underwood playing for Michigan. Head coach Kyle Whittingham’s press conference on Monday will be informative in that regard. What’s hard to sort out absent a lot of context unavailable to the general viewing public is how much of Michigan’s second half was about what Carr, specifically, provided to the offense, vs. how much swapping out quarterbacks in that spot was a positive jolt for a group that needed some belief. Even if Carr does earn a start vs. Indiana, it’s not hard to imagine a team game planning for him makes him look like, well, a freshman, and Underwood gets reinserted. What does seem more and more likely, though, is that Underwood will be with a new program in 2027. 

Broc Lowry is vastly better than last year, doesn’t win MAC OPOTY: Lowry is the reigning MAC offensive player of the year and looks like a vastly improved quarterback from last year, particularly as a passer. He’s in command and control, mostly, which has allowed him to flash a little bit more ability with his right arm. WMU’s pass catchers have grown up with him, too. In three MAC games, Lowry has completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 517 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another 122 and two more scores on 4.1 yards a carry. Lowry has enjoyed the sort of evolution from a runner with some ability to pass into a full-fledged quarterback this year, and it might not win him MAC OPOTY just because of the season John Alan Richter is having for Toledo. 

WMU is a clear favorite in the MAC: Ohio and Toledo, largely, probably have something to say about this — and the Rockets will get a say this Saturday when WMU comes to visit. EMU, Bowling Green, Buffalo and Miami (OH) all have just one conference loss, like Toledo, but for distinct reasons might not be contenders down the stretch (EMU due to health, BGSU is coming back to earth after a 2-0 start in league play, Buffalo and Miami are down to reserve QBs). But this league is also just incredibly difficult to map out. Buffalo has beaten Toledo. Bowling Green beat Miami (OH) but has lost to Ball State. WMU still needs to face the Rockets this Saturday and host Miami at the end of the year, but the path is starting to shape up for the Broncos to roll the rest of the way to Ford Field by going 1-0 for five more weeks. 

MSU wins a conference game this year: If not Rutgers in the finale, MSU’s best bet to win a conference game the rest of the year is probably against Washington in Spartan Stadium on Nov. 14 or the week prior, hoping for some rivalry chicanery and perhaps a Michigan meltdown to get Pat Fitzgerald a signature rivalry win during Year 1. But otherwise, it’s looking pretty bleak for MSU’s chances to win another conference game this year. MSU is already 0-4 vs. Big Ten foes and will have to go to UCLA this weekend and host Oregon on Friday, Nov. 20. This MSU team has shown the fight and ability to be in games against teams that don’t have distinct talent advantages, but is also hamstrung by injuries and a lack of upside with this roster. But absent an upset, it’s looking like this team will be facing Rutgers in a finale hoping to not go 0-fer in conference play.