Saturday, October 9
Piscataway, NJ
12 P.M.
Michigan State University
6-0 , 3-0
31
at
13
Rutgers
3-3 , 0-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Michigan St.
7
14
7
3
31
Rutgers
7
6
0
0
13
No. 11 Michigan State Improves to 6-0, Defeats Rutgers, 31-13
10/9/2021 4:50:00 PM | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Michigan State football team improved to 6-0 on the season with a 31-13 victory over Rutgers at SHI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
MSU (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) used explosive plays all game to put away the Scarlet Knights, scoring touchdowns of 94, 65, 63 and 63 yards.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Jalen Nailor tied a school record with three touchdown receptions and had five catches overall for 221 yards, the fourth-highest receiving total in school history. He caught TD passes of 63, 63 and 65 yards, all in the first half.
Junior running back Kenneth Walker III had another 200-yard rushing performance, this time collecting 233 rushing yards on 29 carries, including a school-record 94-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter (previous: 90 yards by Lynn Chandnois in 1949 vs. Arizona). The 94-yard rushing TD by Walker was also the longest offensive play from scrimmage in school history (previous: 93-yard pass play from Tony Banks to Nigea Carter vs. Indiana in 1994). It marked the fourth 100-yard rushing effort for Walker this season, and the second time he has gone over 200 yards (career-high 264 vs. Northwestern on Sept. 3).
Redshirt sophomore Payton Thorne was 16-of-27 passing for a career-high 339 yards and three touchdowns, all to Nailor.
For only the fifth time in FBS history, players from the same team in the same game had 300 yards passing (Thorne with 339 yards), 200 yards rushing (Walker with 233 yards) and 200 yards receiving (Nailor with 221 yards).
Overall, the Spartans collected 588 yards of total offense (339 passing, 249 rushing).
On special teams, Matt Coghlin became the school's all-time leader in field goals with his 72nd career field goal in the fourth quarter from 35 yards out.
Defensively, the Spartans shut out the Scarlet Knights (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) in the second half. Sophomore Darius Snow led the team with a career-high nine tackles.
It marks the ninth time in school history Michigan State has started 6-0 (1913, 1951, 1952, 1965, 1966, 1999, 2010, 2015, 2021). The Spartans are also 3-0 in Big Ten action for the first time since 2017.
SCORING SUMMARY
Michigan State drove to the Rutgers 24-yard line on its opening possession, but the drive stalled out and ended without points after the Spartans did not convert on a fake field-goal attempt from 43 yards out. Rutgers went 74 yards on nine plays on its first drive to take a quick 7-0 lead as Aron Cruickshank scored on a 4-yard flip pass from Johnny Langan.
The Spartans responded right back just three plays later on Thorne's 63-yard touchdown pass to Nailor that tied the score at 7 with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
Rutgers regained the lead, 10-7, on Valentino Ambrosio's 21-yard field goal at the 12:10 mark in the second quarter.
Nailor was back at it again in the second quarter with his second TD reception of the game. Thorne found Nailor on the left sideline at the RU 30-yard line, and then Nailor stopped after hauling in the pass to evade a tackler and sprinted toward the middle of the field for the final 30 yards to the end zone for the 63-yard touchdown.
Michigan State committed its first turnover on a fumbled snap deep in its own territory midway through the second quarter, but after Rutgers took over on the MSU 12-yard line, the Scarlet Knights were held without a first down and had to settle for a Ambrosio 29-yard field goal to make it 14-13 in favor of the Spartans with 6:21 left in the half.
Nailor scored his third TD of the half on a flea flicker, as Walker took the handoff from Thorne, flipped it back to Thorne, who then found Nailor wide open for the 65-yard score. Nailor had four catches for 208 yards in the first half alone, including 94 yards after the catch.
On MSU's third series of the third quarter, Walker raced 94 yards to the end zone for the longest rushing touchdown in school history, giving MSU a 28-13 lead.
The Spartans made it 31-13 on Coghlin's 35-yard field goal with 2:07 left in the game.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Oct. 16 to face Indiana at noon in Bloomington. The game will be televised on FS1.
MSU (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) used explosive plays all game to put away the Scarlet Knights, scoring touchdowns of 94, 65, 63 and 63 yards.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Jalen Nailor tied a school record with three touchdown receptions and had five catches overall for 221 yards, the fourth-highest receiving total in school history. He caught TD passes of 63, 63 and 65 yards, all in the first half.
Junior running back Kenneth Walker III had another 200-yard rushing performance, this time collecting 233 rushing yards on 29 carries, including a school-record 94-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter (previous: 90 yards by Lynn Chandnois in 1949 vs. Arizona). The 94-yard rushing TD by Walker was also the longest offensive play from scrimmage in school history (previous: 93-yard pass play from Tony Banks to Nigea Carter vs. Indiana in 1994). It marked the fourth 100-yard rushing effort for Walker this season, and the second time he has gone over 200 yards (career-high 264 vs. Northwestern on Sept. 3).
Redshirt sophomore Payton Thorne was 16-of-27 passing for a career-high 339 yards and three touchdowns, all to Nailor.
For only the fifth time in FBS history, players from the same team in the same game had 300 yards passing (Thorne with 339 yards), 200 yards rushing (Walker with 233 yards) and 200 yards receiving (Nailor with 221 yards).
Overall, the Spartans collected 588 yards of total offense (339 passing, 249 rushing).
On special teams, Matt Coghlin became the school's all-time leader in field goals with his 72nd career field goal in the fourth quarter from 35 yards out.
Defensively, the Spartans shut out the Scarlet Knights (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) in the second half. Sophomore Darius Snow led the team with a career-high nine tackles.
It marks the ninth time in school history Michigan State has started 6-0 (1913, 1951, 1952, 1965, 1966, 1999, 2010, 2015, 2021). The Spartans are also 3-0 in Big Ten action for the first time since 2017.
SCORING SUMMARY
Michigan State drove to the Rutgers 24-yard line on its opening possession, but the drive stalled out and ended without points after the Spartans did not convert on a fake field-goal attempt from 43 yards out. Rutgers went 74 yards on nine plays on its first drive to take a quick 7-0 lead as Aron Cruickshank scored on a 4-yard flip pass from Johnny Langan.
The Spartans responded right back just three plays later on Thorne's 63-yard touchdown pass to Nailor that tied the score at 7 with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
Rutgers regained the lead, 10-7, on Valentino Ambrosio's 21-yard field goal at the 12:10 mark in the second quarter.
Nailor was back at it again in the second quarter with his second TD reception of the game. Thorne found Nailor on the left sideline at the RU 30-yard line, and then Nailor stopped after hauling in the pass to evade a tackler and sprinted toward the middle of the field for the final 30 yards to the end zone for the 63-yard touchdown.
Michigan State committed its first turnover on a fumbled snap deep in its own territory midway through the second quarter, but after Rutgers took over on the MSU 12-yard line, the Scarlet Knights were held without a first down and had to settle for a Ambrosio 29-yard field goal to make it 14-13 in favor of the Spartans with 6:21 left in the half.
Nailor scored his third TD of the half on a flea flicker, as Walker took the handoff from Thorne, flipped it back to Thorne, who then found Nailor wide open for the 65-yard score. Nailor had four catches for 208 yards in the first half alone, including 94 yards after the catch.
On MSU's third series of the third quarter, Walker raced 94 yards to the end zone for the longest rushing touchdown in school history, giving MSU a 28-13 lead.
The Spartans made it 31-13 on Coghlin's 35-yard field goal with 2:07 left in the game.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Oct. 16 to face Indiana at noon in Bloomington. The game will be televised on FS1.
Team Stats
MSU
RUT
Total Yards
588
377
Pass Yards
339
266
Rushing Yards
249
111
Penalty Yards
68
65
1st Downs
20
20
3rd Downs
4
6
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
29:03
30:57
1st Quarter
MSU 0, RUT 7
RUT - Cruickshank,Aron 4 yd pass from Langan,Johnny (Ambrosio,Valentino kick) 9 plays, 72 yards, TOP 03:22
MSU 7, RUT 7
MSU - Nailor,Jalen 63 yd pass from Thorne,Payton (Coghlin,Matt kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:46
2nd Quarter
MSU 7, RUT 10
RUT - Ambrosio,Valentino 26 yd field goal 10 plays, 72 yards, TOP 03:41
MSU 14, RUT 10
MSU - Nailor,Jalen 63 yd pass from Thorne,Payton (Coghlin,Matt kick) 5 plays, 87 yards, TOP 01:48
MSU 14, RUT 13
RUT - Ambrosio,Valentino 29 yd field goal 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 01:03
MSU 21, RUT 13
MSU - Nailor,Jalen 65 yd pass from Thorne,Payton (Coghlin,Matt kick) 1 plays, 65 yards, TOP 00:11
3rd Quarter
MSU 28, RUT 13
MSU - Walker III,Kenneth 94 yd run (Coghlin,Matt kick), 1 plays, 94 yards, TOP 00:16
4th Quarter
MSU 31, RUT 13
MSU - Coghlin,Matt 35 yd field goal 6 plays, 23 yards, TOP 02:19
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
16
TD
3
YDS
339
INT
1
Players Mentioned
K
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WR
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S
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RB
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