Photo via Toronto Star

Illinois makes a stop on Michigan State's 2-point conversion attempt in OT, holds on for 38-37 win

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Lage, L. (2026, October 11). Illinois makes a stop on Michigan State's 2-point conversion attempt in OT, holds on for 38-37 win. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/illinois-makes-a-stop-on-michigan-state-s-2-point-conversion-attempt-in-ot-holds-on-for-38-37-win/article_ef3516ef-af89-5ee5-9190-c21640ab8c9c.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-10-11 · by Larry Lage

Quick Summary

In a dramatic game at East Lansing, Illinois secured a 38-37 victory over Michigan State in overtime after stopping the Spartans' two-point conversion attempt. The Fighting Illini held a commanding lead but faced a comeback when coach Bret Bielema's decision to go for it on fourth down backfired. Coach Pat Fitzgerald of Illinois justified his risky late-game strategy due to defensive fatigue, and despite losing quarterback Katin Houser to injury, they managed the decisive play in overtime to secure the win.
Written by AI on 2026-10-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In EAST LANSING, Mich., Illinois secured a 38-37 victory over Michigan State in an overtime thriller on Saturday. The Fighting Illini (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) built a significant lead with scores on their first five drives, reaching a 16-point advantage by the third quarter. However, coach Bret Bielema's decision to go for it on fourth down late in regulation allowed Michigan State (2-4, 0-3) to rally and force overtime. In OT, Hudson Clement caught a crucial 25-yard touchdown pass from Michael Clayton, while Illinois successfully defended against Michigan State’s two-point conversion attempt to clinch the win. Coach Pat Fitzgerald noted that his defensive team's exhaustion made going for two in overtime a necessary decision.

Written for “College Football Game Highlight” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 College Football Game Highlight
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 10661 article(s) · 27 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 27 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Larry Lage
16 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 If Kerby is not activated within the next three weeks, he will not be eligible to play this season.
🔮 “I thought we would get it, No. 1,” Campbell said.
🔮 Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham declined to say who he would start Saturday at his news conference earlier in the week, but Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said he assumed Carr would start.
🔮 This Saturday, the Hoosiers (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) are favored by seven points against Michigan (4-2, 1-2) in the Big House and are expected to win two straight in the series for the first time since 1958-59. “They’ll be feeling pretty good about themselves after that,” he said.
🔮 Maybe not, but the nine-time All-Star was impressive and earned a spot in rarified air, The NBA scoring record for a debut was set by Kyrie Irving in 2019, when he had 50 with the Brooklyn Nets.
🔮 It might not have happened if first-year coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t agree to bench Bryce Underwood at halftime and to give Carr a chance to turn around a lackluster offense and perhaps fire up a listless team.
🔮 Underwood also predicted he would win “a couple Heismans and at least one natty,” in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show,” shortly after signing with Michigan.
🔮 While TV replays appeared to show he was not offside, Fitzgerald could not challenge the call.
🔮 Pistons general manager Trajan Langdon said last May that the team wanted to sign the All-Star center to a contract extension, but the two sides had not reached an agreement ahead of media day on Monday afternoon.
🔮 Bryce Underwood threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to JJ Buchanan early in the fourth quarter — their second scoring connection of the game — but the Wolverines (3-1, 0-1) could not make enough plays on both sides of the ball to hold on for the win.
Also by Larry Lage
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 16 articles by Larry Lage →

Topics

EAST LANSING Illinois Mich. Michigan State Spartans

Subjects

Fitzgerald PERSON · 5× Illinois GPE · 4× Michigan State ORG · 4× Spartans ORG · 4× Bielema PERSON · 3× Clayton PERSON · 2× Houser PERSON · 2× EAST LANSING GPE · 1× Mich. GPE · 1× Michael Clayton PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The Fighting Illini (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) scored on their first five drives to take a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter and coach Bret Bielema made a decision late in the game that helped Spartans (2-4, 0-3) come back.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-11
🔮 While TV replays appeared to show he was not offside, Fitzgerald could not challenge the call.

Claims (23 extracted, 1 hedged)

Michael Clayton threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Hudson Clement on the first play of overtime and Illinois made a stop on a 2-point conversion attempt to hold on for a 38-37 win over Michigan State on Saturday. asserted
Illinois → throw → Saturday
The Fighting Illini (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) scored on their first five drives to take a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter and coach Bret Bielema made a decision late in the game that helped Spartans (2-4, 0-3) come back. asserted
Spartans → score → game
Bielema chose to go for it on a fourth-and-1 at his 33 and Clayton was stuffed on a sneak, giving Michigan State the ball with 3:27 left. asserted
Clayton → choose → 3:27
Jaziun Patterson’s 2-yard touchdown run with an extra point made it 31-all with 1:17 left. asserted
it → make → 1:17
Patterson scored a third touchdown in overtime and coach Pat Fitzgerald went for 2 points and the win. asserted
Fitzgerald → score → points
The Spartans lined up in a wildcat formation and tossed the ball to quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, whose pass short of the end zone fell incomplete. asserted
pass → line → zone
“We were just so beat up on defense that to go for 2 in the end was a no-brainer,” Fitzgerald said. asserted
Fitzgerald → beat → end
Illinois quarterback Katin Houser, who threw for a touchdown pass and ran for a score against one of his former teams, was injured while making a tackle on an interception return in the third quarter. asserted
who → throw → quarter
Clayton threw passes for the first time in his career, including a 14-yard throw to Collin Dixon early in the fourth quarter for his ninth receiving touchdown this season, and a 2-point conversion created a 14-point lead. asserted
conversion → throw → lead
Behind the call The Spartans surprised Illinois with an onside kick in the fourth quarter and a video review determined receiver Samson Gash recovered it. asserted
Gash → surprise → it
Gash, though, was flagged for being offside. asserted
Gash → flag → ?
“I’ve never seen a review go and then come back and review it again and change,” Bielema said. asserted
Bielema → see → it
While TV replays appeared to show he was not offside, Fitzgerald could not challenge the call. uncertain
Fitzgerald → appear → call
“We were not offside,” Fitzgerald said. asserted
Fitzgerald → say → ?
“I was told you couldn’t review being onside on the kick.” asserted
you → tell → kick
The takeaway Illinois: Houser hurt his left hand and will be out indefinitely. asserted
Houser → hurt → hand
“I do know he had something broken in his hand, so we’ll try to gather information as best we can there,” Bielema said. asserted
Bielema → know → information
“Didn’t say it was out for the year, but he’ll be out for obviously a considerable amount of time.” asserted
he → say → time
After starting his college career with the Mel Tucker-led Spartans in 2022, he spent the last two seasons at East Carolina. asserted
he → start → Carolina
After averaging fewer than nine points over the previous three games and being held to seven points in the first half, the offense suddenly showed signs of life with 24 points in the second half in a potentially positive sign. asserted
offense → average → sign
“We’re going to get this going in the right direction,” Fitzgerald said. asserted
Fitzgerald → go → direction
“We didn’t get the win, but we’re seeing growth.” asserted
we → get → growth
Up next Michigan State: Host Northwestern, Fitzgerald’s former team, on Saturday. ___ asserted
State → host → Saturday
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support