Michigan State 35-7 Eastern Michigan (Sep 12, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Eastern Michigan · Michigan State

Eastern Michigan1-27

Michigan State2-035Final

Sat, Sep 12 · Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Mich. · Crowd 70,712BTN

Michigan State routed Eastern Michigan 35-7.

We had Michigan State favored. It won.

Next: Eastern Michigan lost to Wisconsin 54-10, Sat Sep 19

Next: Michigan State lost to Notre Dame 27-10, Sat Sep 19

Top comment in the game thread

Eastern Michigan’s coach’s beard is so nice it looks fake. I’m jealous

Q1 1:04 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Sep 12

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Michigan State a 56% chance, and the closing betting line (Michigan State was a 17.5-point favorite) put it at 92%.

FinalMichigan State 35-7 Eastern MichiganMichigan State wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q1 10:28Milivojevic passes to Moore for touchdown as fans mock EMU punterThis may be the worst D1 punter I’ve ever seenr/CFB game threadI have watched all 3 EMU games so far, their punter has got to be the worst in FBS. He's been doing this all yearr/CFB game thread
Q1 1:04Fans mock Eastern Michigan coach's beard and criticize the fake punt decisionQuoted at the top of the page.
Q3 5:46Milivojevic throws a 38-yard touchdown pass to Taplin as Michigan State fans celebrate the deep strikeBeen hearing a lot about Taplin nice to see him getting some reps todayr/CFB game thread
Q3 5:46Michigan State fans demand benching Chuck Brantley after incomplete passEh EMU HC been yapping for a call all day they finally threw him a boner/CFB game thread

Michigan State’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Michigan State -17.5), at 91% for Michigan State (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. The gray band is r/CFB game-thread activity, its loudest stretches in gold. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Michigan State’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Michigan State scored on 5 of its 9 drives; Eastern Michigan on 1 of its 9.

Michigan State’s drives are teal, Eastern Michigan’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

“Alessio looks way worse this week”

A Michigan State fan

How fans reacted

Steady

The loudest stretch came in the second quarter.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was steady; the crowd was quiet.

Box score

Michigan State 35, Eastern Michigan 7

Michigan State covered −17.5 by 10.5. The total, 42, stayed under 49.5.

Team totals	Eastern Michigan	Michigan State
Total yards	219	472
Passing	16 of 26, 118 yds	18 of 26, 214 yds
Rushing	26 for 101 yds	45 for 258 yds
First downs	13	24
Third down	6 of 13	10 of 15
Fourth down	0 of 0	3 of 3
Turnovers	1	1
Penalties	3 for 12 yds	4 for 32 yds
Time of possession	28:39	31:21

Eastern Michigan leaders

Passing Noah Kim 16 of 26, 118 yds
Rushing Braydon Bennett 9 for 56 yds; Amareon Blue 8 for 40 yds
Receiving Harold Mack 5 for 49 yds; Ben Prosper 4 for 30 yds

Michigan State leaders

Passing Alessio Milivojevic 12 of 20, 170 yds, 2 TD
Rushing Camryn Edwards 21 for 152 yds, 2 TD; Brandon Tullis 4 for 37 yds
Receiving Charles Taplin 3 for 65 yds, 1 TD; Jayden Savoury 4 for 63 yds

No rain and calm

84° at kickoff · no rain recorded · wind 9 mph from the west-southwest, mostly across the field, gusts to 24

Warmer than 9 in 10 of the 64 other games played at Spartan Stadium since 2016 (airport temperature during the game window). The usual here around this date is 66°, with about 7 in 10 games between 58° and 78°.

September game-day temperatures at Spartan Stadium

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 15:00 left3:39 p.m.

Eastern Michigan 0, Michigan State 0 · Michigan State 91% to win

no rain · wind 12 mph from the west-southwest, mostly across the field, gusts to 18 · 84°

Blue 3-yd run

Where this weather comes from

Measured at Lansing airport, 6.0 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last two games

Eastern Michigan · 1-1

Rated 92nd in our preseason ratings, 101st now.

1-1 in its last two — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

L 21-27 vs San José State #132 of 668

lost by 6 as a 1.5-point favorite

W 28-17 vs Sacramento State #130 of 668

won by 11 as a 9.5-point favorite

Last three games · 2025 season

Michigan State · 4-8

Rated 170th in our preseason ratings, 157th now, up 13 spots.

1-2 in its last three — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

W 38-28 vs Maryland #98 of 667

won by 10 as a 4.5-point favorite

L 17-20 @ IowaTop 25 #30 of 667

lost by 3 as a 17.5-point underdog

L 10-28 vs Penn StateTop 25 #17 of 667

lost by 18 as a 6.5-point underdog

L 20-23 @ Minnesota #64 of 667

lost by 3 as a 5.5-point underdog

L 20-31 vs MichiganTop 25 #17 of 667

lost by 11 as a 13.5-point underdog

L 13-38 @ IndianaTop 25 #6 of 667

lost by 25 as a 26.5-point underdog

L 13-38 vs UCLA #58 of 667

lost by 25 as a 6.5-point favorite

L 27-38 @ NebraskaTop 25 #35 of 667

lost by 11 as a 12.5-point underdog

L 31-45 @ USCTop 25 #18 of 667

lost by 14 as an 18.5-point underdog

W 41-24 vs Youngstown State #193 of 667

won by 17 as a 23.5-point favorite

W 42-40 vs Boston College #55 of 667

won by 2 as a 3.5-point favorite

W 23-6 vs Western Michigan #118 of 667

won by 17 as a 22.5-point favorite

Week by week

Michigan State

Wk 1Wvs Toledo30-20

Eastern Michigan

Wk 1Wvs Sacramento State28-17
Wk 1Lvs San José State21-27

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Michigan State’s explosive plays against Eastern Michigan, 57 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Michigan State’s explosive plays against Eastern Michigan’s defense
Michigan State offense, 3rd percentile · Eastern Michigan defense, 60th
Michigan State’s success rate against Eastern Michigan’s defense
Michigan State offense, 55th percentile · Eastern Michigan defense, 23rd
Michigan State’s rushing EPA against Eastern Michigan’s defense
Michigan State offense, 25th percentile · Eastern Michigan defense, 58th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

Eastern MichiganMichigan State

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Michigan State leads the series 7-0

7 meetings since 1996 · Michigan State has won the last 7

2014Michigan State 73-14
2012Michigan State 23-7
2008Michigan State 42-10
2006Michigan State 52-20
2002Michigan State 56-7

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Eastern Michigan fans are in a better mood than Michigan State fans (75th vs 39th among FBS fanbases), even with Michigan State favored.

Michigan State favored by 17.5 · Total 49.5

How games like this usually go

Michigan State by 17.5, and it went to form

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 251 games since 2025 with a favorite of 14.5 to 21.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 2 points toward Michigan State.

The total fell 2 points.

The books’ cut: 4.3%, the margin built into the odds

Weather at kickoff

Warm and dry. Feels like 84° at kickoff.

Eastern Michigan at Michigan State · Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026 · Spartan Stadium, East Lansing

84°feels like at kickoff
Dryno rain at kickoff
77weather score, Mixed
Tiedfor the roughest of the day's 7 kickoff times

At kickoff, Sept. 12, 2026.

Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.

Later kickoff times scored higher that Saturday

Games in this time zone used 7 kickoff times that day, local time (kickoffs within 30 minutes of each other count as one). This game, ringed, was tied for the roughest of the day's seven kickoff times. At Spartan Stadium that day, a 7:30 pm kickoff would have scored 100, against 77 at 3:30 pm.

The roughest kickoff time is the lowest of the day's times. It can still be Mixed or Comfortable.

noon: 82, Mixed
1 pm: 79, Mixed
2 pm: 78, Mixed
3:30 pm: 77, Mixed (this game)
6 pm: 92, Comfortable
7 pm: 98, Comfortable
7:30 pm: 100, Ideal

Weather score at each kickoff time.

Tap a dot to read that kickoff time.

At kickoff, Sept. 12, 2026. Wind is not drawn here; gusts are in each score.

Home field

Michigan State is worth +2.8 points (±4.0) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 27th percentile.

53% at home, 32% on the road against FBS opponents (27-24 home, 13-28 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -6.2 at home vs. away over 96 games — outside the ±5.7 noise, one of the few buildings where results say more.

The visitors travel about 54 miles to get here.

Michigan State routs Eastern Michigan 35-7