By Ashley VanOchten / @ashleyvanochten
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Fans are on their feet, green and white flood the stadium and Sparty cartwheels onto the field. The atmosphere is electric. The team runs out from the tunnel and your ears begin to ring from the volume of the crowd. It’s another Saturday of Michigan State Football at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans took on the Indiana Hoosiers for the 57th time as the two teams competed for the Old Brass Spittoon. The Spartans lead the series overall 44-15-2 heading into the showdown.
Early in the 1st quarter Indiana came out strong and ready to show they had something to fight for. Jordan Howard scored on a 5-yard run to give the Hoosiers a 7-0 lead.
Shortly after, MSU’s Connor Cook didn’t waste any time and connected with R.J Shelton for a 22-yard scoring play and tie the score up with 5:56 left in the 1st quarter. The pass gave Connor Cook 62 career touchdown passes, tying him for 2nd on all-time at Michigan State.
To the 2nd quarter and MSU didn’t waste any time as Delton Williams scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 1-yard run to make at 14-7 Spartan lead.
As Indiana attempted to fight back, Michigan State’s coverage and open-field tackling was tested. A Nate Sudfeld 11-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Jones made it 14-13. The extra point being no good.
Connor Cook continued his roll with his receivers and made little-to-no mistakes pushing them forward. As the protection on Cook became stronger, his passes were more accurate and aimed at the receivers. Every pass from Cook seemed to be completed. Cook and Burbridge continued their chemistry as Cook’s pass to Burbridge on scoring play was from 11 yards out to make it 21-13.
The Hoosiers would fight back and score another touchdown with 1:09 left in the 2nd quarter. Going into halftime, the Spartans led 21-20.
As the 3rd quarter started, Cook was on fire right away. He connected with Josiah Price to increase their lead 28-20. Shortly after the pass, social media blew up with fans tweeting that Cook is the best quarterback in college football considering he became the 3rd quarterback in MSU history to reach the 8,000-yard career milestone.
As the 4th quarter began, the Spartans got a 21-yard field goal from Michigan Geiger to extend their lead 31-26. Shortly after, Cook set his career-high in completions by connecting with Shelton for a 10-yard scoring play on a fade route increasing the lead to 38-26.
It didn’t stop there as MSU running back L.J. Scott broke through with a 26-yard touchdown run upping the lead over Indiana to 45-26. Without wasting any time, MSU rolled on as Gerald Holmes ran for a 22-yard touchdown.
The unbeaten streak for the Spartans remains intact as with their 52-26 win over the Hoosiers. The Spartans are 8-0 on the season as they enter their bye week.
“The bottom line is we know how to win,” MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said. “We’ve learned how to win close games. The culture exists that we expect to win and somehow, someway, we’ve got to remain our composure and do pretty well. I think that’s the biggest thing. We expect how to win and there’s a confidence level.
