The State News
Junior wide receiver Blair White catches a pass over Indiana cornerback Donnell Jones in the third quarter of Saturday’s game against Indiana.
The State News
MSU freshman wide receiver Keshawn Martin rushes 15 yards for a first down before being forced out by Indiana senior safety Joe Kleinsmith. The Spartans defeated the Hoosiers 42-29.
The State News
Freshman cornerback Trenton Robinson tackles Indiana wide receiver Brandon
Walker-Roby on a kickoff return late in second quarter of Saturday’s game at
Memorial Stadium.
The State News
The Spartans congratulate free safety Danny Fortener on his fourth quarter interception.
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Seasoned Hoyer set to finish where he started
Breakdown: Royster, Nittany Lions look to have edge on Spartans
Prognosticators
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Spartans emerge winners in sloppy game
Ringer rushes for 198 yards, Hoyer solid throughout
Bloomington, Ind. — It could have been the back breaker that brought out those dreaded words: Same Old Spartans.
MSU had pinned the Indiana Hoosiers inside their own five. The down was third-and-seven. The Spartan defense was hungry for a safety, already leading 34-29 late in the third quarter.
Hoosiers backup quarterback Ben Chappell dropped back for a pass and lofted a deep ball to receiver Terrance Turner, who was sprinting down the field, more open than a 7-Eleven.
Turner hauled in the pass and waltzed into the end zone for a touchdown.
On the opposite side of the field, Chappell and a few teammates congratulated each other for taking the lead.
And there it was, laying on the ground next to the jubilant Hoosiers — a single yellow flag, contrasting sharply against the red-painted end zone.
Holding was the call. The guilty party: Offensive lineman Cody Faulkner for tackling MSU defensive tackle Justin Kershaw in the end zone.
The result: A safety for MSU and a clear path to a well-earned win.
“That really would have swung the momentum for them,” Kershaw said. “You can never let a 100-yard pass like that.”
From there on, with a 36-29 lead in hand and senior running back Javon Ringer in the backfield, the Spartans added two field goals for a 42-29 victory to open conference play.
“After that call, that was game-changing right there,” Indiana running back Marcus Thigpen said. “After that, the momentum just went to their side.”
In a phrase that has started to become monotonous because of its consistency, Ringer compiled stellar numbers on the ground, rushing for 198 yards and one touchdown on 44 carries.
Through five games, Ringer has averaged 37 carries and 180 yards, statistics that will continue to thrust him into the race for the Heisman Trophy.
Ringer could have become the first running back in MSU history to reach 200 rushing yards for the third consecutive week, but MSU head coach Mark Dantonio opted to take a knee on the Spartans’ final drive, leaving the Dayton, Ohio, native two yards short of that mark.
“The 200-yard thing, if that comes, it comes,” Ringer said, forgoing personal accolades for a hard-fought victory.
Senior quarterback Brian Hoyer solidified his best game of the season Saturday at Memorial Stadium, going 14-of-26 for 261 yards, a pair of touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Although the final score and 970 yards of total offense might suggest the work of two sound offenses, both teams struggled with penalties, dropped balls and several mental mistakes.
The most one-sided gaffe, however, was in the turnover department, where the Spartans recorded two interceptions, one forced fumble and zero giveaways.
“You never want to be in a shootout game, but I think we responded today,” MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said. “It was nice to come out and play average and come away with a win.”
Junior kicker Brett Swenson put MSU on the board first with a 45-yard field goal six minutes into the first quarter.
The Hoosiers responded with a 76-yard drive capped by an 8-yard pass from quarterback Kellen Lewis to wide receiver Ray Fisher.
MSU came back with a 48-yard field goal from Swenson, followed by a Brian Hoyer quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 14-yard pass from Hoyer to wide receiver Mark Dell, all within eight minutes.
The Hoosiers responded again with nine points of their own on a 6-yard run by Thigpen and a safety that resulted from a blocked punt, bringing the score to 20-16.
Both teams traded big-play touchdowns in the final two minutes of the first half — MSU with an 82-yard connection between Hoyer and sophomore tight end Charlie Gantt and Indiana with a 78-yard run by Thigpen — resulting in a 27-22 MSU lead at halftime.
The fireworks didn’t end at the half. MSU came out with a touchdown on its first drive courtesy of a Ringer 1-yard touchdown plunge and Thigpen evaded Wiley on a 79-yard touchdown catch to put the score at 34-29.
The negated 97-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter gave MSU two points from a safety and a seven-point lead.
Swenson tacked on two field goals in the fourth quarter, one of which was the result of Fortener’s interception, to put the game away.
“A lot of big plays shifted the momentum of the game throughout,” Indiana head coach Bill Lynch said. “We came up a little short there in the late third quarter and into the fourth quarter, and then once we got down two scores, it made it a little bit different.”
MSU continues conference play next Saturday against Iowa. The home game is scheduled to begin at noon.
Published on Saturday, September 27, 2008
Comments
SoCal Spartan
09/27/08 @ 5:58pm
We won so that’s good, but we didn’t show much funk nor flavor. However, Hoyer did look better! I want to see other tailbacks/fullbacks touch that ball!
AnonSpartan
09/27/08 @ 6:01pm
Ringer got 198 yards.
Red Cedar PM
09/27/08 @ 6:05pm
Offense looked pretty good, but our defense has to play better than that when we get to the meat of our schedule. Let’s come home and stuff the Hawkeyes next week.
nyspartan94
09/27/08 @ 8:32pm
I just wanted to say that the win against Indiana was a good one. I am pretty sure that this kind of game was one that we would have lost with John L, but with coach dantino, we were able to win. A good win for the the program. But make no mistake about it, we need to play better defense if we want to compete with OSU, PSU, Wisconsin and even UM. Let’s hope that we learn from this game and move on to competing for the Big Ten championship.
Caloysius27
09/27/08 @ 10:08pm
Well Iowa and N’Western will be test that will define the season potentially. If we win these two I’d say we are positioned to be in the driver seat for the Big 10. The key is the play the full game as “One”
Smokey
09/28/08 @ 11:50am
Big win for MSU!!
Proud of all our boys.
I am still disappointed that ringer does (has to?) carry 40+ times a game.
Don’t get me wrong, hes a freak athlete and a hoss of a running back (if not in size)
But no one, and I mean NO ONE, can carry 480 times in the big10. It just doesn’t happen.
He said that yesterday was the biggest/worst pounding he has taken so far, and that was against IU. What are Iowa/OSU/Mich/Wisky/PSU gonna do to him?
We need to limit him to 25-30 touches a game.
Jimmerson needs to play more/better as does Hoyer.
It was a great win and I’m not trying to be nitpicky, but if we don’t play better, then we did yesterday, I envision another 3-5 big 10 campaign. We do have the team, talent and coaching to go 6-2 big10 though. We’ll see…..
GO GREEN!
GO WHITE!!
GO STATE!!!
Tim
09/28/08 @ 3:37pm
We will win with balance. That’s means not wearing Ringer out. That means spreading the ball around; a possession style attack using the TE’s and the FB’s. 7,8, 9 yard stuff. POSSESSION!!! Hoyer is not cabale of carrying this team with the long ball, notwithstanding his performance yesterday. Teams will put 8 in the box and defy us to pass. Treadwell needs to re-think his play-calling and use the TE’s and FB’s more. We are going to the well too much with Ringer. A great kid but his tank is not limitless.
Iowa is a better squad than IU. We will need more than just Javon next week and for the following weeks. Let’s get Anderson and Jimmerson into this thing. Throw those FB’s abone, too.
POSSESSION, POSSESSION, POSSESSION.
RI sparty 99
09/29/08 @ 10:34am
The game was very sloppy, very scary! If you need a kicker to beat the lowly Hoosiers, you are in a world of trouble. I heard Dantonio on WJR this morning extolling the virtues of his defense. Except for the referee catching a hold in the end-zone, the defense would have been exposed again as shaky at best. If they play that way over the next several weeks, they will be pounded by IA,NW,OSU,WI& PSU.
Lee
09/29/08 @ 12:39pm
It is easy to say we looked good on defense when you take away the big play, but those are the plays that get us talking about “only losing by 7 points or less” six times a year. Watching this past game you could really feel when our defense was going to allow a back-breaker.
No other sane football fan would expect a touchdown pass to occur from a team’s own 5-yard line, but after Indiana escaped the first safety call in the third quarter I just knew they were going to throw for it all. Luckily they did commit those holds that saved it for us, but we shouldn’t count on the other team shooting themselves in the foot all the time.
Our third downs are a mess on defense, too. Whether our opponent is 1, 10, or even 20 yards short of a first down I have every faith they’ll get it through the air on us. It is like we just mentally lapse on third down!
Enough ranting… GO STATE!!!
Tom
09/29/08 @ 12:48pm
The holding play allowed Chappell to make that 97-yard TD pass. If Kershaw isn’t held; Chappell gets tatooed. Also, nobody has mentioned the obvious safety on the previous play that the referees missed. I guess they made up for it.
Sam
09/29/08 @ 12:53pm
I saw poor play in almost all phases of Spartan team with exception of Kicker. Why don’t linebackers and ends stay home. Why not blitz when the slower QB came in-linebackers surely were not covering anyone-especially Middle lb’s..Sloppy and if it continues Spartans will be exposed. Concerned Spartan Fan..