The No. 8 Michigan State Spartans welcomed the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers to a huge Week 4 showdown for the Big Ten on Saturday.
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Clement ran for two touchdowns for Wisconsin, which went with Hornibrook at quarterback after Bart Houston started the first three games. This injury leaves the Spartan’s defense without an experienced linebacker that has played in 41 career games for the program as a fifth-year player.
Coming into Saturday’s game, MI has outscored opponents 159-45 so far this season, while Penn State is giving up an average of 27 points per game.
Michigan State (2-1, 0-1) was down 13-6 early in the third and had the ball in Wisconsin territory when LJ Scott’s fumble bounced to Wisconsin’s Leo Musso in the secondary. Uncharacteristically, Michigan State made mistake after mistake, and Wisconsin took advantage, making the Spartans pay.
Wisconsin safety Leo Musso smiles after recovering a fumble by Michigan State running back LJ Scott (not pictured) and returning it for a touchdown during the third quarter at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on September 24, 2016. Clement rushed 23 times for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Wisconsin has wins over two top-10 teams in its first four games of this campaign, but this win could cement it as a true College Football Playoff contender. O’Connor was 18-38 for 224 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. The extra-point try was missed. Spartans quarterback Tyler O’Connor threw the first of his three interceptions to Badgers defensive back Sojourn Shelton, and that turned into another Wisconsin touchdown, a one-yard run by Corey Clement.
Michael Geiger punched through his second field goal of the game for MSU prior to halftime, and despite getting outplayed, the Spartans entered the locker room down by just one score at 13-6. The Badgers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) were the better team in the first half and then outscored the Spartans 17-0 in the third quarter. Though many feel that Michigan State isn’t going to win the Big Ten East this year over the likes of the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Spartans have been a top-five program for the last half decade.
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The Michigan State protest comes a day after a group of students protested after Eastern Michigan beat Wyoming. The Spartans’ first loss of the season doesn’t disqualify them from anything, but there are plenty of concerns, including a stagnant offense and an injury to starting linebacker Riley Bullough that kept him out of Saturday’s game and could have him sidelined for multiple weeks. The last time Wisconsin made the trip resulted in Kirk Cousins unloading a Hail Mary for Michigan State win in the closing seconds, setting the stage for an epic rematch in the Big Ten Championship Game later that season.
