After defeating Indiana to improve to 4–1, the Spartans' season took a major downturn, losing five games to Ohio State (34–10), Wisconsin (38–0), Penn State (28–7) Illinois (37–34) and Michigan (44–10) consecutively. Against Illinois, the Spartans blew a 28–3 lead in first half and were outscored 27–3 in the fourth quarter at home. The following week at Michigan, the Spartans took an early 7–0 lead in the first quarter but were outscored 44–3 in the final three quarters. In their 12 losses over the 2018-2019 seasons, the Spartans were outscored 139–13 in the fourth quarter.