MSU opened the season at Spartan Stadium against Mid-American Conference opponent, Bowling Green looking to improve upon their poor performance in 2016.

As time ran out in the first half, Brian Lewerke hit Felton Davis for a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Spartans a 14–3 lead at halftime.

LJ Scott would lose another fumble early in the fourth quarter, this time the Falcons returned it 46 yards for a touchdown to reduce the Spartan lead to 35–10.

For the second week in a row, an opponent scored on a fumble recovery when true-freshman receiver Hunter Rison had the ball stripped by WMU cornerback Darius Phillips and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown, to pull the Broncos within 14–7.

MSU started off hot as Brian Lewerke hit his first five passes including a 22-yard catch by Felton Davis for a touchdown and an early 7–0 lead over Iowa.

7-ranked Michigan looked like the better team to start the game as they went 64 yards on 16 plays, but stalled on the MSU 11-yard line and settled for a 30-yard field goal to take an early 3–0 lead.

With the wind kicking up and a storm approaching, Michigan scored on their second possession after a short punt gave the Wolverines the ball as the Spartan 33.

Finally, as time expired, the Wolverines' Hail Mary-pass was deflected to the ground at the goal line to give the Spartans the win and the Paul Bunyan trophy.

Disaster struck on the punt, as the snap was high and slipped through punter Jake Hartbarger's hands, with Minnesota recovering at the Spartan three yard line.

The MSU defense stood tall and drove the Gophers back, leading to an Emmit Carpenter 25-yard field goal to open the scoring.

Michigan State received the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down into the red zone, but were forced to settle for another field goal, with Coghlin hitting from 35 yards out to move the score to 20–6.

Following yet another fumble by L. J. Scott, Minnesota recovered scored their first touchdown of the game on a 28-yard pass from Demry Croft to Tyler Johnson to cut the lead to 23–13.

After a good kickoff return from Connor Heyward, MSU quickly responded to the Gopher touchdown with Scott scoring from six yards out, making it 30–13 Spartans.

Following a Madre London fumble that was recovered at the MSU 15-yard line by the IU defense, Indiana notched their only points of the half on a Griffin Oakes 33-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter.

The teams exchanged punts before Michigan State hit a Matt Coghlin 22-yard field goal, capping off a 10 play, 68-yard drive with 6:46 remaining in the first half.

On the ensuing possession, MSU's offense also came alive on a nine-play, 40 yard drive, but the Spartans would turn the ball over on downs at the Indiana 35-yard line.

In the third quarter, both offenses started well, but had drives stall as NU punted from MSU territory and the Spartans' Matt Coghlan hit the right upright on a 51-yard field goal attempt.

On a halfback pass play, Justin Jackson hit Ben Skowronek to give the Wildcats a 17–10 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

MSU attempted to answer, moving into NU territory again, but Matt Coghlin again hit the right upright, this time from 32 yards out as the score remained 17–10.

Starting at their own eight yard line, PSU moved quickly down the field and opened the scoring as McSorley connected on a 31-yard touchdown pass to DaeSean Hamilton to give the Nittany Lions a 7–0 lead.

After each team exchanged punts, MSU moved into Penn State territory before a weather delay stopped play with 7:58 remaining in the second quarter.

After a Penn State punt, the Spartans moved quickly down the field and Lewerke hit Felton Davis on a 33-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with 3:50 left in the half.

To begin the second half, each team punted the ball before MSU moved 91 yards on a 10-play drive capped off by an L. J. Scott three-yard touchdown pass to give the Spartans a 21–14 lead.

Following a Spartan punt, McSorley hit a wide-open DeAndre Thompkins on a 70-yard touchdown pass to take a 24–21 lead as the third quarter expired.

Looking to take the lead, the Lions moved to the Spartan 31 yard line, but McSorley's pass fell incomplete on fourth down with 4:05 remaining in regulation.

Brian Lewerke threw for 400 yards for the second consecutive game, the first Spartan ever to do that and only the third Big Ten quarterback to accomplish that feat in the last 20 years.

MSU traveled to Columbus to take on Ohio State with a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten East division.

The Buckeyes would add a touchdown and two field goals in the second half to end any realistic shot the Spartans had at the Big Ten Championship.

On the final day of the regular season, the Spartans travelled to New Jersey to take on Rutgers, the team against which MSU tallied its lone conference win from the prior year.

Following a Scarlet Knight punt, MSU again moved deep into Rutgers territory, but again could not punch the ball in and settled for another 26-yard field goal and a 13–0 lead.