And so, by doing the opposite of what they did a year ago , by not relenting to – and at times straight up shutting down – the patented Oregon onslaught, the Spartans got their revenge.
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No. 5 Michigan State and No. 7 Oregon met Saturday in the season’s first matchup of top-10 teams, and the Spartans defense came up big in the end, sacking Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams late to force a fourth-and-16. In the fourth quarter, the Spartans stopped Adams on a fourth-down run for a turnover on downs. The conference came off a decent run that included Michigan winning a share of the national championship in 1997 with a ideal season, and Ohio State taking the 2002 crown with the disputed win over Miami (Fla.).
The Michigan State air attack was effective and led the way for Sparty Saturday night.
“Being able to play on this kind of stage against this kind of opponent, prime-time, under the lights”, quarterback Connor Cook said.
“How they play defensively, there’s going to be some huge plays and there’s going to be some clunkers”. “It was with me all through spring, all through camp”.
Cook, a graduate of Walsh Jesuit High School, completed 20 of 32 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns with one interception to lead Michigan State to a 31-28 victory. After a Michigan State punt, the Ducks drove to the Spartans’ 33 before Adams overthrew Marshall, who had beaten his defender.
The Spartans then sacked Adams for a loss of 10, and his pass on fourth-and-16 was incomplete.
The Spartans lost 46-27 at Oregon last season. “We can’t let this affect us”. The drive was capped off with a Royce Freeman 2 yard touchdown run. The fact is we didn’t complete it, we didn’t finish it. The defense did a great job of getting us the ball back. “That could have changed everything if I would have put it right on them“. Tied at 14 early in the second quarter, Colorado scored 34 unanswered points to turn the game into a rout as it bounced back from a season-opening loss to Hawaii. A 38-yard scoring run by Scott made it 31-21 with 10:51 remaining.
Adams, whose health was a concern heading into the game, nearly rallied the Ducks. Texas Tech had a streak of 69 games from 2006-2011. The offensive line struggled against a ferocious Michigan State front. On fourth-and-16, blitzing middle linebacker Riley Bullough’s ferocious pass rush forced Adams to make a poor throw for an incompletion that secured the win. “Up and down”. I also think that if you look at last year’s football team, if we win that football game, you’re talking beyond, and you just keep trying to move your program forward.
Michigan State answered by scoring quicker than Oregon even did.
Time for the week two edition of the Michigan State film room.
Corey Coleman had a Baylor-record four touchdown catches, and the Bears had 785 total yards in their victory over Lamar. Coker was 15 of 26 with a touchdown, but also had a pass intercepted after throwing into double coverage.
To refute the coach’s claim, take Addison’s dirty side-step to slip away from the first Spartan with an angle on the tackle.
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It usually worked, as it did in last season’s Cotton Bowl when Michigan State held Baylor scoreless in the fourth quarter.
