EAST LANSING — Michigan State lost this game more than Washington really won it.

The Spartans crashed down to Earth a bit one week after their upset win at Michigan, falling at home to Washington 21-14 on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium. MSU had plenty of opportunities to jump ahead in the fourth quarter, but failed to take them, and its short-handed defense could only hold on for so long.

Here are three instant takeaways from Michigan State's loss that drops the team to 3-7 overall on the season and 1-6 during Big Ten play during Pat Fitzgerald's first season:

UM Win Doesn't Change MSU's Thin Margin for Error

Things just have to go right for Michigan State to win games. That's sort of the reality with how flawed this roster is, and it's especially so when the Spartans are dealing with as many injuries as they're dealing with. Things went right last week at Michigan, between a stand-up-on-their-head defensive performance, a horrific day for UM's offense, and the fact that MSU seemed to win all the critical downs.

Michigan State didn't make the plays it needed to win this game. Kenny Soares Jr. had a silly roughing-the-passer penalty on a third down that extended a UW drive, later resulting in a Husky touchdown. Cam Fancher threw a ridiculous interception. The offense was handed a golden opportunity on a muffed punt in the fourth quarter, but didn't go anywhere, and then Liam Boyd missed a 50-yard attempt. Carson Gulker fumbled on the game's final drive.

The game was there for MSU to win, even with Alessio Milivojevic's injury. The Spartans failed to take it. That's part of what makes this one sting. They are now officially eliminated from contention for a bowl game with games against Oregon and Rutgers left.

Give Joe Rossi His Respect

This was another great game for Joe Rossi's defense. Michigan State's offense struggled to move the ball nearly all night after its scripted drives, but the Spartans' defense, still as battered and bruised as ever, managed to keep MSU around for a four-quarter game.

It seemed like Michigan State was going to get some players back from injuries on Saturday, but Rossi was largely sticking with a lot of the backups who helped pitch the near-shutout at Michigan last week. With how short-handed MSU was in the secondary on Saturday and with how much Washington wants to throw the ball, only 21 points allowed is a good day.

One wonders how Rossi's unit could look if they were healthier, really. This is the second straight year that Michigan State's defense has seemed to have gotten noticeably better as the year has gone on. The Spartans are hoping to be a major player in the upcoming transfer portal window, and some upgrades for Year 4 with Rossi will be part of the key to getting MSU out of their conference's basement.

'Next Man Up' Still Only Goes So Far

The injury report only got longer for Michigan State on Saturday. Milivojevic is certainly the most notable injury. He took a big hit late in the first half and walked off the field with his left arm in a sling-like position. He didn't return after that. The backup, Fancher, also got hurt on his excruciatingly bad interception, though he returned to the game shortly after QB3 Kayd Coffman got a few snaps.

It feels like MSU would have won this game if Milivojevic hadn't gotten hurt. The Spartans couldn't move the ball at all with Fancher, whose pick probably cost the team three points alone. The only time the ball actually moved with QB2 in was the final drive, and it took a few fourth-down conversions for that to even happen. This loss certainly is not on the defense, which gave the offense opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.

Star nosetackle Ben Roberts also gave it a go, but he only played a few snaps before emerging on the sideline with street clothes again. The interior defensive line got gashed in the run game a few times on Saturday, though the Spartans prevented any of those plays from becoming real big explosive plays.

It also seemed like MSU was really missing safety Devin Vaught on Saturday. Washington receivers were getting behind the Spartans' other safeties, or at least getting separation, far too often. One instance was UW's first touchdown of the night. Michigan State was really fortunate that those mistakes on the back end didn't cost it more, as Washington struggled with drops a lot on Saturday.