Michigan State stuffs Nebraska

NO. 10 MICHIGAN STATE 27,

NO. 19 NEBRASKA 22

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Trae Waynes intercepted Tommy Armstrong’s pass with 30 seconds remaining, and No. 10 Michigan State held off a furious Nebraska rally and beat the No. 19 Cornhuskers 27-22 on Saturday night.

The Spartans (4-1, 1-0) led 27-3 heading into the fourth quarter before three Nebraska touchdowns set up a tense finish. A 43-yard pass to Alonzo Moore gave the Huskers the ball at the Michigan State 37 with just less than a minute to play.

But on a day when several other top teams lost in wild upsets, Nebraska (5-1, 1-1) couldn’t finish this comeback. Armstrong’s pass to the end zone fell incomplete, then Waynes came up with his second interception of the game.

The Spartans shut down Nebraska’s running game, and the Cornhuskers didn’t score in the first half despite three Michigan State turnovers in its own territory. Tony Lippett caught a 55yard touchdown pass from Connor Cook in the first quarter, and when he scored on a 32-yard reverse Michigan State was up 27-3 with 2:02 remaining in the third.

But Nebraska star Ameer Abdullah, who was held to 45 yards rushing, scored on two short runs in the fourth, and De’Mornay Pierson-El returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-22 with 3:22 remaining. It might have been closer, but Nebraska attempted 2 twopoint conversions in the fourth and failed on both.

Michigan State recovered an onside kick but couldn’t run out the clock. With Nebraska out of timeouts, Jeremy Langford was forced out of bounds, stopping the clock with 1:12 remaining and bringing up fourth down. Then Michael Geiger’s 36-yard field goal attempt missed, bouncing off the left upright and crossbar.

That gave Nebraska the ball at its own 20, but the Spartans held on.

Nebraska entered the game ranked No. 2 in the nation in rushing, and Michigan State was No. 4 in rushing defense. That matchup wasn’t much of a game. The Huskers managed only 47 yards on the ground after they had been averaging 355.