Michigan State football suffered their fourth loss in a row in the 2026 season, losing a game in heartbreaking fashion to Illinois, 38-37 in overtime.
A game in which the Spartans fell behind 17-0, the team battled all the way back to force overtime and had a two-point conversion to win the game, but the call failed and the Spartans would fall again. Unfortunately, the effort was not enough, and falling behind was too much to overcome for MSU.
After looking at the film, and evaluating the game, Pro Football Focus (Subscription Required) gave out their grades for the Spartans in the game. Check out the bottom five players (minimum five snaps) for the Spartans, according to PFF:
- DE Isaac Smith - 35.1
- TE Brennan Paracheck - 36.0
- TE Kai Rios - 42.4
- CB Tre Bell - 47.2
- S Nikai Martinez - 48.8
The bottom of the Spartans roster featured a plethora of upperclassmen, and players that have a big importance to the Spartans success. These veterans will need to play better.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Rex_Linzy
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State's bottom five players against Illinois, per PFF