Michigan State University
Indiana
Spartans Bounce Back Against Hoosiers
11/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov 9, 2002
By STEVE HERMAN
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Damon Dowdell, Charles Rogers and the rest of Michigan State's beleaguered team made Morris Watts' head coaching debut a success by defeating Indiana 56-21 Saturday.
Starting for the third straight game in place of suspended quarterback Jeff Smoker, Dowdell passed for four touchdowns and ran for another score as the Spartans snapped a four-game losing streak.
Rogers set a school record with his 24th and 25th career touchdown receptions. He also set up two other TDs with end-around runs of 41 and 25 yards during a 35-point second quarter that blew the game open for the Spartans (4-6, 2-4 Big Ten).
Watts was promoted from offensive coordinator to interim coach after Bobby Williams was fired on Monday - two days after the Spartans endured their worst defeat since 1947 in a 49-3 loss to Michigan. Adding more embarrassment, Smoker's family announced he was undergoing treatment for substance abuse, and leading rusher Dawan Moss was kicked off the team for being arrested in a traffic dispute.
Despite all that, Watts had a fairly easy test for his first game as head coach.
Indiana (3-7, 1-5) tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter on a 7-yard run by Chris Taylor. But the Hoosiers went three-and-out on their next three possessions and gave up the ball on downs on their next series, with Michigan State scoring quickly after each one.
Dowdell was 17-of-25 for 203 yards, while Rogers had five receptions for 102 yards. Freshman David Richard took over the bulk of the ball-carrying and picked up 136 yards and one touchdown, the fourth of Michigan State's five scores in the second period.
Three of the Spartans' five TDs in the second quarter took 41 seconds or less.
First, the 41-yard gain by Rogers and a 20-yard pass to Jason Randall set up a 1-yard TD pass to Eric Knott for a 14-7 lead. It took the Spartans just three plays to score again, with Rogers leaping into the end zone for a 36-yard reception and a 21-7 lead.
That touchdown tied him with Kirk Gibson (1975-78) for the Michigan State career record.
The next time the Spartans got the ball, it took just two plays to score, with a 48-yard run by Richard setting up the first of Jaren Hayes' two TDs.
After Richard's touchdown made it 35-7, Michigan State got the ball back when Mike Labinjo intercepted a pass by Indiana's Gibran Hamdan and returned it 18 yards to the Hoosiers 23. Dowdell then passed 17 yards to Rogers to set up a 6-yard TD run by Hayes with 41 seconds left and a 42-7 lead at the half.
Indiana scored late in the period after Tommy Jones replaced Hamdan at quarterback and threw a 30-yard TD pass to Glenn Johnson. The Hoosiers' final touchdown came on a 4-yard run by Yamar Washington with three minutes left in the game.
