Rutgers snaps Big Ten skid, beats Michigan State 38-27

EAST LANSING, MICH. (AP) » Isaih Pacheco ran for two first-half touchdowns, and Rutgers snapped a 21-game Big Ten losing streak Saturday, beating Michigan State 38-27 in coach Greg Schiano’sfirst game backwith the Scarlet Knights.

Michigan State has a new coach too, andMel Tucker’s debut was forgettable from the start. The Spartans (01) turned the ball over seven times — four in the first half — and never led against a Rutgers team that hadn’t won a conference game since Nov. 4, 2017 against Maryland.

“Those last seconds ... I looked up and said, ‘ Wow, this is real life, you know?’” said Rutgers defensive end Mike Tverdov, a junior who redshirted the year the Scarlet Knights last won in conference play. “So it’s definitely long overdue.”

The ScarletKnights scored 14 points total through their first five Big Ten games last year. It took them 8:03 to reach that mark Saturday. Pacheco strolled in from 12 yards out to cap the game’s opening drive, then Michigan State receiver Jayden Reed fumbled the ball away on his team’s first offensive play.

Rutgers (1- 0) didn’t capitalize on that turnover, but the Scarlet Knights quickly forced another. Rocky Lombardi was sacked and fumbled, giving Rutgers the ball at the Michigan State 1. A touchdown run by Johnny Langan made it 14-0.

Reed scored on a 50-yard catch- and-run on fourth down to make it 14-7, but the Spartans weren’t done turning the ball over. An interception inMichigan State territory led to a 24-yard touchdown run by Rutgers quarterback Noah Vedral.

Reed’s second fumble of the half gave the Scarlet Knights the ball again, but Vedral threw an interception. Michigan State’s Shakur Brown ran it back for a touchdown, but that was called back for a penalty and the Spartans settled for a field goal.

Pacheco scored on a 3-yard run in the final minute of the half, and Rutgers led 28-13 after two quarters. Michigan State lost another fumble near midfield on its first possession of the third.

Rutgers lost two fumbles in its own territory in the third quarter. Lombardi threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to JalenNailor tomake it 28-20, but the Spartans didn’t capitalize on the second of those takeaways, getting stopped on fourth down from the Rutgers 21.

The Scarlet Knights drove the otherway for a field goal that gave them an 11-point lead. Another Michigan State fumble — a muffed punt with 6:57 left — essentially sealed the game, although the teams traded late touchdowns after that and Lombardi threw an interception in the finalminute.