Michigan State comes through late, beats Indiana
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State came prepared with an appropriate symbol for its sixth victory of the season.
“We had a bowling ball in the locker room,” quarterback Brian Lewerke said. “We’re all going to sign it after — on Monday or whatever.”
Lewerke threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Felton Davis with 5:59 remaining, and the 18thranked Spartans edged Indiana 17-9 on Saturday night to become bowl eligible. Securing a postseason opportunity has been a formality for much of coach Mark Dantonio’s tenure at Michigan State, but after a 3-9 season in 2016, this win meant something.
RUTGERS 14, PURDUE 12: Gus Edwards scored on a 74-yard run on Rutgers’ second offensive play and Gio Rescigno threw a 35-yard touchdown pass in the second half as Rutgers beat Purdue, posting consecutive Big Ten Conference wins for the first time since joining the league in 2014. Rutgers forced two turnovers and limited Purdue (3-4, 1-3) to 4 of 19 on third- and fourthdown conversion attempts. The defense also came up with a defensive stop on the 2-point conversion after Anthony Mahoungou made a one-handed catch of a 10-yard touchdown pass by David Blough with 25 seconds to play to cut the lead to two points. WISCONSIN 38, MARYLAND 13: Jonathan Taylor ran for a touchdown and broke the 1,000-yard mark for the season, Alex Hornibrook passed for two scores and No. 5 Wisconsin stayed unbeaten with a 38-13 win over Maryland on Saturday. Taylor finished with 126 yards on 22 carries, a relatively ho-hum day following two straight 200-yard outings for the running back. MINNESOTA 24, ILLINOIS 17: Kobe McCrary ran for 153 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Rodney Smith added 103 yards rushing for Minnesota as the Gophers beat Illinois. Linebacker Jon Celestin returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth to provide the winning margin for Minnesota (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten). The Gophers ran for 292 yards as a team and held the Illini (2-5, 0-4) to 282 total yards.