MSU held "the nation's most exciting performer," scUM's Denard Robinson, to just 42 yards rushing and a miserable 9-of-24 passing for 123 yards... that is just 167 total yards of offense, folks. That was less than half of his total of 342 yards per contest prior to the MSU tilt. The defense also battered Robinson all day long, with 7 sacks and countless hits. The pick-six by Spartan DB Isaiah Lewis in the fourth quarter was a result of a brutal blitz package by MSU, with Spartan LB Max Bullough right in his face. Indeed, after Michigan scored to close the Spartan lead to 21-14, the defense picked up the pressure, with blitz after blitz harassing the scUM QBs. Indeed, if Robinson was such a great player, why not have him in at the end of the game? In addition, the Wolverines were held to a miserable 20% third down conversions, just 3-of-15. It was misery all day long for scUM, thanks to the Spartan vice-grip defense.
Asf for the Spartan offense, Kirk Cousins was as sharp as he was all year -- actually the biggest issue on offense were the several dropped passes by both Cunningham and Martin (although Martin's sideline tiptoed efforts on the 2 TD catches were fantastic). The OL started opening up gashing holes for Edwin Baker and LeVeon Bell. Baker's 167 yards was his best of the year, and the 213 yards rushing dominated the measly 82 yards of Michigan.
As for the Nike combat uniforms, they looked better in photos than in action -- it was real tough to see the numbers throughout the game, at least from the upper deck.
A dominating performance on all sides of the game from the opening kickoff to the final seconds. Congrats to the 5-1 Spartans who have a chance to make the claim as the Big Ten's best this weekend's homecoming vs. Wisconsin. Go GREEN!
Team Statistics (Final)
2011 Michigan State Football
#11 Michigan vs #23 Michigan State (Oct 15, 2011 at East Lansing, Mich.)
MICH MSU
FIRST DOWNS................... 20 16
Rushing..................... 8 9
Passing..................... 6 7
Penalty..................... 6 0
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 82 213
Rushing Attempts............ 36 39
Average Per Rush............ 2.3 5.5
Rushing Touchdowns.......... 1 1
Yards Gained Rushing........ 151 224
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 69 11
NET YARDS PASSING............. 168 120
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 12-31-1 13-24-0
Average Per Attempt......... 5.4 5.0
Average Per Completion...... 14.0 9.2
Passing Touchdowns.......... 1 2
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 250 333
Total offense plays......... 67 63
Average Gain Per Play....... 3.7 5.3
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 2-0 2-2
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 5-40 13-124
PUNTS-YARDS................... 7-223 5-205
Average Yards Per Punt...... 31.9 41.0
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 27.1 36.6
Inside 20................... 4 1
50+ Yards................... 0 0
Touchbacks.................. 1 0
Fair catch.................. 1 0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 3-158 5-333
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 52.7 66.6
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 37.0 48.2
Touchbacks.................. 0 3
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 2-22-0 1-13-0
Average Per Return.......... 11.0 13.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 2-32-0 3-47-0
Average Per Return.......... 16.0 15.7
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 0-0-0 1-39-1
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 29:27 30:33
1st Quarter................. 8:23 6:37
2nd Quarter................. 6:31 8:29
3rd Quarter................. 6:50 8:10
4th Quarter................. 7:43 7:17
Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 15 7 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 2 of 4 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-2 3-3
Touchdowns.................. 1-2 3-3
Field goals................. 0-2 0-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 7-62
PAT Kicks..................... 2-2 4-4
Field Goals................... 0-0 0-0
