Skip to article
The Sporting Page Real Analysis. Not Corporate

College Sports

Northwestern Faces Former Coach Pat Fitzgerald at Michigan State

No. 25 Northwestern visits Michigan State on Saturday, with Aidan Chiles returning to face his former program.

By TSP Staff
Spartan Stadium scoreboard at Michigan State University in an archival 2016 photograph.
Spartan Stadium at Michigan State University on December 28, 2016. Archival photograph. Photo: Paul R. Burley, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). · Credit: Paul R. Burley

No. 25 Northwestern visits Michigan State on Saturday in a game connecting the Wildcats with former head coach Pat Fitzgerald and quarterback Aidan Chiles with his previous team.

Fitzgerald is in his first season leading Michigan State after 17 seasons as Northwestern’s head coach. David Braun, his successor with the Wildcats, brings a 4–1 team to East Lansing.

Chiles played at Michigan State in 2024 and 2025 before transferring. He has completed 80 of 112 passes for 1,172 yards this season, with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.

Northwestern entered the AP rankings after beating Ball State 45–14. Its only defeat was a 29–23 loss at Indiana, and the Wildcats are 1–1 in Big Ten games.

Michigan State is 2–4 overall and 0–3 in conference play after a 38–37 overtime loss to Illinois. The Spartans scored a touchdown in overtime but could not complete a two-point conversion for the win.

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:06 p.m. Eastern, 10:06 a.m. Mountain. Michigan State lists Peacock as the U.S. streaming outlet.

Sources and notes

  1. https://msuspartans.com/news/2026/10/13/football-michigan-state-hosts-no-25-northwestern-saturday-in-spartan-stadium
  2. https://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/news/how-to-watch-no-25-northwestern-vs-michigan-state-tv-live-stream-preview-for-saturdays-game-nbcsn-peacock
  3. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_State_University_Spartan_Stadium_2016-1470.jpg
  4. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/