East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Bragging rights in the Wolverine State
once again belong to the Spartans following a blowout win on Saturday.
Jeremy Langford ran for 177 yards and three touchdowns as No. 8 Michigan State
continued its recent dominance over Michigan with a lopsided 35-11 win.
The Spartans (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) have beaten their in-state rival six of the
past seven years by a combined score of 197-101.
Connor Cook threw for 227 yards in windy conditions, with a big chunk of that
yardage coming on a third-quarter scoring strike to Tony Lippett that
essentially made sure the Paul Bunyan Trophy stayed in East Lansing.
Even with an extra week of preparation, the Wolverines (3-5, 1-3) managed just
186 total yards to Michigan State’s 446.
One of the two interceptions Devin Gardner threw was returned for a touchdown,
and the embattled quarterback completed a mere 15-of-30 passes for 125 yards.
The only solace for Michigan came with 3:40 left in regulation, as De’Veon
Smith ran for a score to end the Wolverines’ touchdown drought against the
Spartans. It stood at 11 straight quarters prior to the 1-yard plunge.
Rather than take a knee and run the clock out after Smith’s touchdown,
Michigan State gave the ball to Langford seven straight times, and the
talented senior punctuated the rout with a 5-yard TD run.
