2026 Michigan State University Football Schedule Primer: games 4-6

Our schedule primer continues with games 4-6. This is a beautiful time of year in East Lansing and the Spartans are fortunate enough to be spending two of the three weeks at home with a trip to Madison sandwiched in the middle.

This part of the schedule kicks off against Nebraska whom the Spartans had opportunities to beat last year but ultimately lost by 11. Wisconsin has not been on the schedule since an exciting primetime overtime victory in 2022 and Illinois destroyed the Spartans in 2024. How will MSU fair against these teams this year?

Here is the schedule for games 4-6:

September 26 – vs Nebraska

October 3 – @ Wisconsin

October 10 – vs Illinois (Homecoming)

Kickoff times and TV information is not available for any of these games, as of this writing.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these opponents.

NEBRASKA

Matt Rhule begins year four in Nebraska and has yet to live up to expectations. Dylan Raiola is no longer slinging the ball in Lincoln and has transferred to Oregon. UNLV senior transfer Anthony Colandrea will most likely be the starter at QB. Colandrea is known to be a bit of a wildcard as he’s not been afraid to take chances down the field. This does turn into some costly turnovers and playing against B1G defenses may make this a big weakness for him. Nebraska’s offense ranked 134 of 136 in explosiveness so a gunslinger may be what they need. Their offensive line gave up 33 sacks last year but word in Lincoln is that they are slightly improved at that position.

MSU is an interesting matchup for Nebraska. Both teams are looking for better OL and DL production, and this game may tip either team in the direction they hope to go. Nebraska will be playing a four-man front but they lack size and depth. If MSU can get pressure, it may force Colandrea into some bad decisions. Colandrea is a scrambler and the edges will need to stay disciplined to keep him from scurrying into the open field. That is Colandrea though, put on pressure and he either throws a pick or scrambles and doesn’t take many sacks. MSU may have a chance to make a defensive statement in this game and show where the future could go. However, to every potential statement maker there is the other side if the statement fails to be made.

The RB room for Nebraska is really interesting as there is not much returning experience. There are a ton of guys though and RB coach Barthel seems to be able to get production out of at least one back a year. The question this year is who? It seems likely that it could come from a true freshman but the gate is open for someone to take the reins and with MSU meeting them so early in the season, they may not have it figured out yet.

A new Defensive Coordinator in Rob Aurich brings a 4-2-5 scheme to Nebraska. The primary question will be his willingness to rotate and use the plethora of players they have stocked up in each position. The line will be using some transfers and not ideal players but the rest of the defense has potential to be fairly decent, with the primary strength coming from the linebackers.

This will be a very interesting game in my opinion and I see MSU being able to pull off the victory.

WISCONSIN

A trip to Madison, a favorite B1G campus of mine, has another year-four coach in Luck Fickell trying to turn the tide and bring the Badgers back to relevance. The talent is there, but can the talent turn losses into wins is the question facing Wisconsin.

Colton Joseph enters Madison having transferred from Old Dominion to take over at QB. Wisconsin had fewer first downs that any team in the nation and only averaged 12.8 points a game last year with a turnover ratio of -10. These are all pretty abysmal stats given the fact that they were rated at around the 30th-best roster in the nation. Joseph is one of many plug-and-play transfers the Badgers are hoping to get success from. The QB play was dreadful last year and the news out of fall camp is the team feels pretty comfortable and confident with Joseph at the helm and he’s taken on an immediate leadership position. He is a true dual threat and can be dangerous.

The other news from Madison is that the team’s attitude, specifically on defense, has seemed to improve. The “giving up” mentality was whispered about all last season. This year the defense seems good, not great, but they are fighting to get back. That fight was missing last year. That fight has been going on all fall quite noticeably in the battle for starting cornerback between Eric Fletcher and Jai’mier Scott. The position battles have tightened through a lot of areas on the roster showing that Wisconsin has some guys and some depth.

The Badger offensive line has taken a beating with injuries last season at left tackle and this fall the right side has been dealing with injuries. It will be something to keep an eye on as to whether the injuries nag and become detrimental to their lines success.

Who will be catching the ball is another great question for Wisconsin. They picked up a ton of receivers in the portal, but who is going to be the guy? Abu Sama takes over at RB transferring in from Iowa St. He was the clear number two back there though, so how he fares with this role and will the line be effective enough for him to be productive are two more questions to add on to the receiver question mark.

The Badger defense is also in limbo when it comes to whether it can get any pressure on the QB. This seems to be not only an MSU question as clearly Wisconsin and Nebraska are in the same boat. The difference? Wisconsin on paper has the best athletes at the position. They also lost a lot of their run defense production and how they turn around from that will be a big key to their success or failure this season.

Wisconsin and MSU will face off in game 5 and both will have played Notre Dame. The ND games may be a good barometric reading on how these teams will look against each other. I don’t like the Spartan chances in this one, even though these two teams historically play each other tough, I think the Badgers get this win.

ILLINOIS

Homecoming has the Illini coming to E.L. and a homecoming for former MSU QB, Katin Houser. Houser takes over from Luke Altmyer who is now in the NFL. After Altmyer helped the Illini to 19 wins over two years, the fanbase obviously wants more, but QB is a big part of that. Illinois head coach Brett Bielema said Houser was their target all along. They liked what he did at East Carolina and thought his grit was perfect for taking over the team. That is some high praise and definitely makes me wonder what MSU would be like if Houser had never left. Of course, the QB room was full when he was in East Lansing, but he seemed to have potential.

Illinois has four starting offensive linemen to replace but the roster is solid and seems like they are prepared to continue success. Jayshon Platt was a big portal grab for Illinois as he is a solid receiver and is on the Biletnikoff award watch list as one of the top wideouts in the nation. He is quick and will be the deep threat. Given MSU’s secondary issues in years past this could be scary. Ca’Lil Valentine is back at RB for the Illini and was their most productive at the position last year.

Xavier Scott is Illinois’ stud on defense. The nickel corner was injured last year but is back healthy and is a preseason All-Big Ten player. He’s also a captain and clearly a strong asset and leader to the team.

The thing about this Illini team is its ability to fly around the field. They are quick and athletic. They will cause problems for MSU on both sides of the ball. I don’t know if they will produce the same number of wins as they have been, but they should still be a strong team and an unfortunate opponent for a homecoming game. MSU has not fared well in homecomings lately and I feel this trend will continue as MSU will likely lose this one too.

What does TOC Nation think about games 4-6? I have MSU at 1-2 through these three and 3-3 through the first 6. There are so many unknowns with a new regime, new schemes and revolving players that things could obviously go either direction, but it is hard to be too optimistic with the state of the roster and what Fitz has to take over for his first year. I think I’d be happy with being competitive and showing grit and fight. Edging out Nebraska would be a key start to the conference schedule and could give the team some needed confidence after a likely blowout in South Bend. Wisconsin poses a unique opportunity for MSU but falling up short is probable. Illinois could blow us out, but staying close and fighting would be a win. Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments and please check out episode 4 of the Red Cedar Rundown and subscribe to the Youtube channel for future episodes. Go Green!

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