Michigan State knocked off no. 13 Michigan, 27-24, Saturday afternoon at Michigan Stadium to reclaim the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Saturday’s victory for MSU was first-year Spartan head coach Mel Tucker’s first win, and his first victory over UM, as Michigan State is bringing the Paul Bunyan Trophy, the rivalry trophy with UM, home to East Lansing.
The Spartans earned their ninth win in the last 13 meetings against the Wolverines, and have now won five of the last seven meetings over Michigan in Ann Arbor. MSU had 449 yards of total offense, including 323 passing from Lombardi, while the visiting Spartans rushed for 126 yards. Junior quarterback Lombardi was 17-of-32 for 323 yards, with three TDs, matching his career-high set last week vs. Rutgers. MSU also had zero turnovers Saturday.
The Spartan defense stymied the Wolverines, starting off with a sack on the opening defensive play of the game on the way to six tackles for loss. After just one catch last week vs. Rutgers in his Spartan debut, freshman wide receiver White had a breakout game Saturday afternoon with 196 yards on eight catches and one TD.
The 196 yards was the most-ever by a Spartan freshman receiver, bettering the previous mark of another White wearing jersey No. 7, Cody White with 165 receiving yards in 2017. Ricky White’s 196 yards is tied for seventh-best single-game outing in program history, matching Andre Rison (11 catches) vs. Indiana (11/8/86).
Junior running back Heyward had only two catches, but they were both TDs, adding 13 carries for 28 yards. Freshman Jordan Simmons led the Spartan running attack for the second-straight game with 14 rushes for 55 yards.
Senior linebacker Simmons, who is an Ann Arbor native and went to high school at Pioneer HS, which is just across the street from UM’s campus, notched 11 tackles, tying his career-high from last week vs. Rutgers. Simmons finished with six solo stops, five assists, along with 0.5 tackle for loss and two pass break-up, one coming in the endzone, thwarting a UM score.
Junior linebacker Harvey had seven solo stops and four assists, along with 1.5 tackles for loss. Senior defensive back Tre Person posted a career-high nine tackles.
Senior placekicker Matt Coghlin made two field goals, including a career-long 51-yarder in the third quarter, adding three PATs. Junior punter Bryce Baringer punted four times for a 54.0 yards per punt average, with a career-long of 78 yards.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, November 7th to take on Iowa at Kinnick Stadium beginning at 12pm ET. The game will be televised on ESPN.
This article is largely a repost of a Michigan State University press release. For more sports, news and entertainment, follow the Midwest Sports Network on Twitter @MWSNsports or like the MWSN page on Facebook.
