Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
Post-Game Notes: Illinois
11/9/2019 11:35:00 PM | Football
• Illinois defeated Michigan State, 37-34, Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium . . . it marked Illinois' second straight win in the series . . . MSU leads the overall series, 26-19-2, including a 13-9-1 mark in East Lansing.
OFFENSE
• Brian Lewerke finished with 347 yards of total offense (251 passing, 96 rushing), marking his 11th career game with more than 300 yards of total offense and the fifth-highest output of his career . . . Lewerke finished with a career-high 96 rushing yards on 11 carries, including a 42-yard TD in the second quarter . . . Lewerke's 42-yard TD run was the second-longest TD run of his career (61 yards vs. Western Michigan in 2017) and third-longest run overall of his career (61 vs. WMU, 52 vs. Notre Dame in 2017) . . . Lewerke was 19-of-36 passing for 251 yards, marking his 18th career game with 200 yards passing . . . Lewerke also became the first Spartan QB to eclipse 7,000 yards passing (7,226) and 1,000 yards rushing (1,157) in his career.
• Elijah Collins recorded his second career 100-yard rushing game with 170 yards on a career-high 28 carries (6.1 avg.) . . . the 170 rushing yards were the second most by a Spartan against Illinois (Javon Ringer with 194 in 2005) . . . Collins' previous career high in carries was 19 vs. Arizona State . . . Collins scored two TDs for the first time in his career (1 yard in the first quarter; 6 yards in the second quarter).
• Cody White had season highs in receptions (7) and receiving yards (128) . . . it marked White's fourth career 100-yard receiving game and first of the season.
• Freshman wide receiver Tre Mosley caught three passes for 32 yards, including his first career touchdown with an 18-yard grab in the second quarter . . . Mosley has seven catches for 69 yards in his first two career games (Penn State, Illinois).
• Michigan State started four true freshmen on offense, all of them making their first career starts: WR Julian Barnett, LG J.D. Duplain, WR Tre Mosley and C Nick Samac.
• The Spartans had 526 yards of offense, the second time this season going over the 500-yard mark for total offense this season (582 vs. Western Michigan).
• MSU had a season-high 275 rushing yards on 51 attempts.
DEFENSE
• Making his first career start, sophomore linebacker Noah Harvey led MSU with nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss (11 yards) and 1.5 sacks (11 yards) . . . Harvey also had two pass break-ups.
• Kenny Willekes had 1.5 sacks (6 yards) and now has 5.5 sacks this season and 9.0 tackles for loss.
• Antjuan Simmons started his ninth game of the season, but his first career game at middle linebacker, and collected six tackles, including one for a 3-yard loss.
• Shakur Brown recorded his second career interception with a pick in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
• MSU held Illinois to a season-low 36 rushing yards on 27 carries.
• Mike Panasiuk had his starting streak of 37 consecutive games snapped after being limited in practice this past week due to sickness; Panasiuk did play in the game and had one tackle and one pass break-up.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Tate Hallock forced a fumble on a kickoff in the second quarter and it was recovered by Davion Williams; following the fumble recovery, MSU scored a touchdown three plays later on 6-yard TD run by Elijah Collins.
• Matt Coghlin was 2-for-2 on field-goal attempts, including a 23-yarder in the third quarter and a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter.
OFFENSE
• Brian Lewerke finished with 347 yards of total offense (251 passing, 96 rushing), marking his 11th career game with more than 300 yards of total offense and the fifth-highest output of his career . . . Lewerke finished with a career-high 96 rushing yards on 11 carries, including a 42-yard TD in the second quarter . . . Lewerke's 42-yard TD run was the second-longest TD run of his career (61 yards vs. Western Michigan in 2017) and third-longest run overall of his career (61 vs. WMU, 52 vs. Notre Dame in 2017) . . . Lewerke was 19-of-36 passing for 251 yards, marking his 18th career game with 200 yards passing . . . Lewerke also became the first Spartan QB to eclipse 7,000 yards passing (7,226) and 1,000 yards rushing (1,157) in his career.
• Elijah Collins recorded his second career 100-yard rushing game with 170 yards on a career-high 28 carries (6.1 avg.) . . . the 170 rushing yards were the second most by a Spartan against Illinois (Javon Ringer with 194 in 2005) . . . Collins' previous career high in carries was 19 vs. Arizona State . . . Collins scored two TDs for the first time in his career (1 yard in the first quarter; 6 yards in the second quarter).
• Cody White had season highs in receptions (7) and receiving yards (128) . . . it marked White's fourth career 100-yard receiving game and first of the season.
• Freshman wide receiver Tre Mosley caught three passes for 32 yards, including his first career touchdown with an 18-yard grab in the second quarter . . . Mosley has seven catches for 69 yards in his first two career games (Penn State, Illinois).
• Michigan State started four true freshmen on offense, all of them making their first career starts: WR Julian Barnett, LG J.D. Duplain, WR Tre Mosley and C Nick Samac.
• The Spartans had 526 yards of offense, the second time this season going over the 500-yard mark for total offense this season (582 vs. Western Michigan).
• MSU had a season-high 275 rushing yards on 51 attempts.
DEFENSE
• Making his first career start, sophomore linebacker Noah Harvey led MSU with nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss (11 yards) and 1.5 sacks (11 yards) . . . Harvey also had two pass break-ups.
• Kenny Willekes had 1.5 sacks (6 yards) and now has 5.5 sacks this season and 9.0 tackles for loss.
• Antjuan Simmons started his ninth game of the season, but his first career game at middle linebacker, and collected six tackles, including one for a 3-yard loss.
• Shakur Brown recorded his second career interception with a pick in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
• MSU held Illinois to a season-low 36 rushing yards on 27 carries.
• Mike Panasiuk had his starting streak of 37 consecutive games snapped after being limited in practice this past week due to sickness; Panasiuk did play in the game and had one tackle and one pass break-up.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Tate Hallock forced a fumble on a kickoff in the second quarter and it was recovered by Davion Williams; following the fumble recovery, MSU scored a touchdown three plays later on 6-yard TD run by Elijah Collins.
• Matt Coghlin was 2-for-2 on field-goal attempts, including a 23-yarder in the third quarter and a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Players Mentioned
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