Michigan State - Illinois Post-Game Notes
9/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
Please note: Spartan Sports Zone, the Michigan State athletic department's weekly TV show dedicated to Spartan Athletics, will not be seen at its regularly scheduled time Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. on Fox Sports Detroit. Due to satellite complications at the Fox Sports studios in Houston (Hurricane Rita), the show has been cancelled. Thursday's show, which is regularly seen at 6 p.m., is still TBA for this week.
With the 61-14 win over Illinois, MSU has now won nine straight over the Illini and five straight in Champaign...the Spartans lead the overall series, 23-16-2 and improve to 11-9-1 in Champaign.
The Spartans tied a Big Ten record with seven touchdown passes (Drew Stanton - 5; Brian Hoyer - 2)...Iowa also threw for seven against Northwestern on Nov. 7, 1989...the seven touchdown passes established a school record...the previous best was six vs. Iowa in 1999.
Junior quarterback Drew Stanton set a MSU single-game record with five touchdown passes...the previous best was four, which had been done seven previous times...four of those touchdowns came in the first half...he finished the game 20-for-26 with 259 yards passing...the 259 passing yards are the fourth-best effort for a Spartan quarterback vs. Illinois.
The Spartans racked up 705 yards of total offense (376 rushing, 329 passing), establishing a school record...the previous best was 698 vs. Purdue in 1971...it is the third highest mark for total offense in Big Ten history for a conference game (1: Purdue, 763 yards vs. Indiana, 2004; 2: Iowa, 713 yards vs. Northwestern, 1983)...MSU gained 685 yards vs. Kent State in the first game this season...the Spartans amassed 381 yards (157 rushing, 224 passing) in the first half...through four games, MSU is averaging 594.3 yards of offense a game.
The 61 points are the most for the Spartans in head coach John L. Smith's tenure...it's the most points for MSU since the Spartans scored 76 vs. Northwestern in 1989...the 61 points tie for fifth most in a game for MSU.
The 61 points are the most ever for a Spartan squad against Illinois...the Spartans topped Illinois, 59-19, in 1978 at Memorial Stadium, which was the previous high.
Eleven different receivers caught at least one pass...Matt Trannon had with five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown...Kellen Davis, Kyle Brown, Dwayne Holmes, Jerramy Scott and Kerry Reed also caught touchdown passes...it marked Reed's first career TD - he also caught five passes for 71 yards.
Freshman Javon Ringer rushed for 194 yards on 13 carries, a season best...the 194 yards are the most ever for a Spartan running back vs. Illinois and the most ever for a Spartan freshman running back in a game...the previous best was Tico Duckett's 175 yards vs. Iowa in 1989...it's also the most yards rushing by a Spartan running back since DeAndra Cobb ran for 205 against Michigan last season...in the third quarter, he had a 59-run carry, which is a season-best rush for any MSU player this season...he had 96 yards in the first half.
Stanton connected to Kyle Brown for a 75-yard touchdown pass with 12:26 remaining in the first quarter...it was the longest touchdown pass of Stanton's career...it was the second longest catch of Brown's career (80 yards vs. Penn State, 2003) and his second touchdown this season...he finished with 90 yards on two catches.
Jerramy Scott caught his third touchdown pass of the season when he scored on a 10-yard strike from Stanton with 7:41 left in the second quarter, putting MSU up, 24-7...Scott also ran for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter, his first career rushing touchdown...he ran for 32 yards on three carries in the game.
MSU scored 38 points in the first half, the most in head coach John L. Smith's tenure at MSU...it was also the most points in a half since Sept. 12, 1998, when the Spartans led Notre Dame 42-3 at the half...the Spartans led at the half, 38-7...MSU has outscored its opponents 125-38 in the first half this season.
The Spartans scored 28 points in the second quarter, the most points scored in a quarter in head coach John L. Smith's tenure.
Sophomore Dwayne Holmes caught his first career pass for a 1-yard touchdown with 14:35 remaining in the second quarter to give MSU a 17-7 lead...in the fourth quarter, Holmes caught another touchdown pass.
Red-shirt freshman quarterback Brian Hoyer connected on a 4-yard TD pass to Dwayne Holmes in the fourth quarter for his first career touchdown pass...he threw his second TD pass to Kerry Reed in the fourth quarter.
Defensive notes: Junior cornerback Demond Williams recorded his first career interception with a pick in the fourth quarter.
Junior Jonal Saint-Dic registered his first career sack - resulting in a safety - in the fourth quarter.
