No. 11 Michigan State dodges Utah St. scare
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Connor Heyward scored his second touchdown with 2 minutes left to put No. 11 Michigan State ahead, and the Spartans held on to beat Utah State 38-31 on Friday night.
Michigan State trailed until the second quarter, built a 13-point lead late in the third and fell behind late in the opener for both teams.
Darwin Thompson put the Aggies ahead with a 1-yard run, his second go-ahead score of the game, with 5:05 remaining. Their defense couldn't make one more stop to beat the highest-ranked team in school history.
In other key games:
• Jonathan Taylor had two long touchdown runs, and Alex Hornibrook threw for 257 yards and two scores as fourth-ranked Wisconsin beat Western Kentucky 34-3 at Madison, Wis.
• JJ Arcega-Whiteside caught three TD passes from K.J. Costello to overcome a slow night by Heisman Trophy runner-up Bryce Love as No. 13 Stanford beat visiting San Diego State 31-10. Love was held to 29 yards on 18 carries.
Meyer seeking to clarify issues
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is pushing back on the reasons for his three-game suspension with claims that don't fully square with details laid out in the investigation that led to his punishment.
Meyer tweeted a statement that he says intends to clarify what he calls incorrect media reports about his suspension.
Meyer was suspended three games for mismanaging former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, who has been accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife Courtney Smith. Investigators said Meyer didn't properly handle the abuse claims and other bad behavior from the assistant coach.
Meyer said it is not accurate that he was suspended because he “knew about or condoned Zach Smith's alleged domestic abuse.”
Investigators said Meyer knew about several allegations against the coach before the coach was fired. The report also said Meyer didn't think there was enough to report Smith's issues to compliance officers, which investigators called a misunderstanding of the reporting requirements.
Meyer also said: “I did not lie at Big Ten Media Days” when he told reporters he didn't know about accusations against Smith.
Investigators said they do not believe Meyer “deliberately” lied but said they can't rule it out and that he clearly intended to not disclose details about Smith's issues to media. The report said Meyer took that intention too far even after conversations with the athletic director and others about how to respond to questions.
The report said: “Although it is a close question and we cannot rule out that Coach Meyer was intentionally misleading in his answers, we do not ultimately find that he was. He clearly misspoke and made misstatements, but the reasons that happened are complex.”