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.
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Michigan State has been solid in home games in recent times, winning their home opener 16 straight seasons.
Michigan State took care of business last week against their in-state opponent, Western Michigan, but have a much taller order on deck when they welcome the No. 7 Oregon Ducks to Spartan Stadium Saturday night.
Vernon Adams made critical mistakes against Michigan State Saturday night.
“I’d say it’s probably one of the best feelings in the world”, said Allen. It stuck with me watching them play in the national championship.
The last play? “I got flushed out a little bit, and I’ve got to make that throw”, he said. “It was with me all through spring, all through camp”. Scott finished it off by cutting to his right and scampering 38 yards for the score with 10:51 remaining.Adams’ 15-yard touchdown pass to Marshall with 3:25 remaining cut the Spartans’ lead to 31-28.
The Spartans then sacked Adams for a loss of 10, and his fourth-down pass was incomplete. The loss was reminiscent of several other notable losses in recent years: a bigger, more physical team wore the Ducks down. “We can’t let this affect us”. “That’s what practice is for, we’re going to get back at it on Monday”, he said following the game. Judging him from this game may be harsh, but his grit against the Spartans was enough proof of why he won the starting quarterback gig. “I honestly was thinking about this on Thursday about what it would be like to walk off the field after this Saturday game with a win”.
Oregon junior Bralon Addison’s 81-yard punt return just 1:49 into the second half tied it at 14.
Adams almost rallied the Ducks. That gave the Ducks an NCAA-record 70 consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass.
The last time a Big Ten team had won a non-conference, regular-season battle of top 10 teams was in 2006, when Ohio State beat Texas.
Michigan State is going to the College Football Playoff.
“We have lost 3 of our last 30, and we know what teams we lost to”, Spartan coach Mark Dantonio stated in an interview with mlive.com earlier in the week. “Up and down”. London broke free for a 62-yard run on Michigan State’s first offensive play, and Cook threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Josiah Price.
For now, Dantonio’s challenge is to make his team realizes it needs to continue to improve – which by the nature of his program requires a chip on the shoulder, however artificial or contrived. Junior Michael Geiger’s 36-yard field goal later in the third increased Michigan State’s lead to 10. Oregon did hold highly-regarded Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook to a 20-for-32 night for 192 yards, two touchdowns and a pick.
The Oregon defense then forced a quick three-and-out to get the ball back to Adams with just over two minutes to play.
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Arizona State 35, Cal Poly 21: Mike Bercovici threw two of his three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as the Sun Devils (1-1) pulled away from the Mustangs (1-1) in Tempe, Arizona.
