Sports

Did MSU HC Pat Fitzgerald Just Guarantee Win Over Team That May Not Show Up?

Pat Fitzgerald Has Michigan State Believing Again Following Michigan State’s stunning 15-6 victory over Michigan last Saturday, Fitzgerald has every reason to feel good about his team’s momentum.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 1 source•1 min read•Updated November 14, 2026, 12:10 AM UTC
Key points
  • Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald is feeling pretty darn confident about Saturday’s game against Washington.
  • On Friday evening, Fitzgerald made an appearance at the Breslin Center, where he delivered a pregame pep talk to the crowd ahead of Michigan State’s basketball game.
  • That is a significant problem for a team scheduled to play a football game nearly 2,000 miles away the following afternoon.

Well, Fitzgerald might have delivered the easiest winning prediction of his coaching career, although a canceled game would not count as an MSU victory.

While the excerpt doesn’t establish that Fitzgerald issued a formal guarantee, there was certainly no shortage of confidence in his message.

Additional details
  • During that pregame pep talk, Fitzgerald made quite the declaration about Saturday’s football showdown with the Huskies.
  • At 3-6, Michigan State must win its final three games to reach the six victories normally required for bowl eligibility.
  • “When we win tomorrow …” That’s right, not if Michigan State wins, but when Michigan State wins.
  • According to MLive, the Huskies were among several college football teams affected by Friday’s nationwide FAA ground stop, which halted departing flights across the country.
  • The disruption resulted from air traffic control communications problems, leaving teams scrambling to figure out how they would reach their weekend destinations.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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