Here are five takeaways from this past weekend's football action around the state.
Did this Lions win make up for Arizona tie?
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In a word, no.
Yes, it feels great to say the Lions are unbeaten after two games, which they are following a 13-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in their home opener.
But in a way, it was a must-win given the Lions not only were at home, but the Chargers are a beaten-up outfit right now missing several key players with injuries and also running back Melvin Gordon, who is holding out in a contract dispute.
The schedule gets difficult from here, with games against Philadelphia, Kansas City, Green Bay and Minnesota coming up in the next four weeks.
That ugly tie against lowly Arizona still could very well come back to haunt the Lions.
Was this the worst loss in Mark Dantonio's tenure at Michigan State?
Perception-wise, yes. Standings-wise, no.
Michigan State's 10-7 loss at home to Arizona State still was just a nonconference loss in the grand scheme of things, so it doesn't affect the goal of winning a Big Ten title.
Beyond that, the loss was a nightmare for Dantonio.
Many fans were livid with the team's moribund offense last year and demanded change in the offseason, but Dantonio didn't do anything more than just reshuffle the existing coaching staff into different positions.
Dantonio doubled down and essentially told fans everything would be OK without significant change on offense, but skeptics of that mindset couldn't have their concerns validated any more with the performance against Arizona State.
The offensive line is banged up and even when healthy, has trouble moving opposing linemen.
Wide receivers have trouble gaining separation and some personnel choices have been baffling, such as deciding to not use the team's best running back, freshman Elijah Collins, on some short-yardage situations.
Barring an unlikely turnaround, the worst fears of MSU fans are going to be realized: One of the country's top defenses will be wasted by an inept and stubborn coaching staff's inability to revive the offense in an era where seemingly everyone is scoring points with more passing-oriented and high-tempo attacks.
How about them Eagles?
On a more positive note than what went on in East Lansing, the Eastern Michigan football program earned another feather in its cap on Saturday.
For the third straight year, the Eagles beat a Big Ten opponent on the road, this time, Illinois.
Eastern Michigan was paid $1 million by Illinois to come into Champaign and supposedly be an easy nonconference win for the Illini, but the Eagles had other ideas.
Chad Ryland booted a 24-yard field goal as time expired to give the Eagles a 34-31 win.
Quarterback Mike Glass III went 23-of-36 passing for 316 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles.
Earning a win over a Big Ten team and getting $1 million richer? It couldn't have been a better day to be an Eastern Michigan Eagle.
Big Ten play is here
The start of Big Ten play finally arrives for Michigan and Michigan State on Saturday, and neither team will ease into conference action. In fact, both squads have big tests on the road coming up.
No. 11 Michigan will travel to No. 14 Wisconsin, which like the Wolverines had a bye last week to prepare. Michigan crushed Wisconsin in Ann Arbor last year, but Wisconsin is off to an impressive start, beating South Florida 49-0 and Central Michigan 61-0 to start the year.
MSU will head to Northwestern, a team that has been a major thorn in the Spartans' side of late.
Northwestern has won the last three meetings against the Spartans and has given the vaunted MSU defense problems with a passing game that has attacked the perimeter of the field and spread MSU out.
Given MSU's aforementioned issues on offense, this is not the type of matchup the Spartans need coming off a horrific home loss.
Star QB returns for Ferris State
He's baaack.
Ferris State quarterback and Detroit native Jayru Campbell, last year's winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy for the country's premier Division II player, returned to action this week for the Bulldogs after leading them to an appearance in the national championship game last year.
Campbell went 17-of-29 passing for 271 yards and three touchdowns in a 62-28 Ferris State win at Central Washington.
Campbell missed time over the offseason and during fall camp after having elbow surgery on his non-throwing arm.