No. 18 Michigan State rallies past Indiana

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The way that Michigan State continues to win may not be pretty. But all that matters is winning, especially considering last year’s ugly season.

Trailing throughout the game on homecoming against Indiana, No. 18 Michigan State rallied with two touchdowns over the final 5:59 to earn a 17-9 win Saturday and reclaim the Old Brass Spittoon.

After a disastrous 3-9 season last year and an offseason highlighted by four players getting kicked out of the university for sexual assault allegations, Michigan State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) became bowl eligible and won its fourth straight game, all by single digits.

“A great effort by our football team,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “All the momentum was with IU in that fourth quarter. We found a way. It’s about grit and that’s what I keep talking about with our football team.”

On the other side, it was another heartbreaking defeat for an Indiana team (3-4, 0-4) that has lost to four ranked teams in conference play.

The Hoosiers also lost to Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan last week in overtime.

“Highly disappointed,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said.

“I thought our kids played their hearts out. I’m really proud of their effort that they showed throughout the game. But you’ve got to finish. We had our chance and we let them off the hook.”

Most of the game was a battle of field goals, with Indiana taking a 9-3 lead in the fourth quarter.

Taking over at its 45-yard line with 9:01 left in the game, Michigan State finally found the end zone with 5:59 remaining on a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brian Lewerke to wide receiver Felton Davis to make it 10-9 Spartans.

After forcing an Indiana punt, the Spartans drove the field and took a 17-9 lead on an 18-yard touchdown run by junior running back LJ Scott with 1:49 remaining as the Hoosiers gave him an easy path into the end zone. That was Indiana’s plan, according to Allen, because the Hoosiers had only one time out left and was in danger of not getting the ball back.

“Absolutely,” Allen said when asked if the plan was to let Scott score. “That was the only chance we had. That allowed us to be down eight and give us a chance to score.”

But Indiana couldn’t move the ball past its own 38-yard line on its ensuing drive and ultimately turned the ball over on downs.

Michigan State’s defense has been the biggest reason for its success so far this year, and that was the case against Indiana as well.

The Spartans held Indiana to 253 yards of total offense, 14 first downs and 95 yards rushing.

“We expect our offense to score points, but when they are not, we expect ourselves to step up and play our game and do what you have to do to win the game,” Michigan State senior linebacker Chris Frey said.

“I think the way our defense was playing and getting the stops we did gave the offense confidence late in the game. They stepped their game us and won the game for us in the end by putting points on the board.”

NOTES: Michigan State RB LJ Scott played after being arrested for a seventh time for driving without a license on Wednesday. However, the issue was eventually resolved and he obtained a license later in the week. He missed the first MSU offensive series of Saturday’s game against Indiana and finished with 87 yards on 22 carries. … The last time Indiana beat Michigan State in consecutive years came in the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Indiana recorded a 24-21 win over Michigan State last year to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Spartans… Michigan State started off conference play 4-0 for the fifth time in Mark Dantonio’s 11 years as coach. … Indiana’s defense entered the game second in the nation with an average of seven three-and-outs forced per contest and forced four more three-and-outs on Saturday. … Michigan State has had success despite having one of the nation’s youngest rosters. The Spartans have 76 underclassmen and start 11 sophomores and three freshmen. … The schedule lightens up for Indiana the rest of the way. The only game against a team currently ranked is a home game against Wisconsin on Nov. 4.