Post-Game Notes: Purdue

OFFENSE
• Michigan State finished with 458 yards of total offense (276 passing, 182 rushing) . . . the 458 yards marked the sixth game with 450+ yards of total offense this season . . . MSU scored two passing TDs and two rushing TDs, marking the Spartans' second game with multiple rushing and receiving TDs in the same game, joining Youngstown State (9/11/21) with four receiving TDs and two rushing scores . . . Saturday was the sixth game with at least one passing and one rushing TD in the same game.

• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Payton Thorne was 20-of-30 passing with two TDs . . . Thorne has thrown at least one TD pass in eight of the nine games, with last week vs. Michigan the lone outing without a TD pass . . . the two TDs marked Thorne's fourth game this season with multiple TDs and fifth of his career, now with 20 career TD passes.

• Thorne rushed for a 32-yard scoring scamper in the third quarter, his third rushing TD of the season and fourth of his career . . . it was also Thorne's second-longest rush of his career behind his career-long of 38 yards vs. Indiana (11/14/20), and his third 30+ yard scamper, joining a 31-yarder vs. Ohio State (12/5/20).

• Junior running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Kenneth Walker III posted his sixth 100-yard rushing outing of the season with 136 yards on 22 carries . . . Walker now has 11 100-yard rushing games in his career (two at Wake Forest in 2019, three at Wake Forest in 2020; six at Michigan State in 2021) . . . Walker scored his 15th rushing TD and 16th overall TD of the season with a 14-yard score in the second quarter . . . the 15 rushing TDs moves Walker up to No. 11 on MSU's single-season rushing TDs list and are the most since Jeremy Langford's school-record tying total of 22 in 2014, matching Javon Ringer's 22 rushing TDs in 2008.

• Walker added 20 yards receiving on two catches to finish with 156 all-purpose yards, marking his fifth game this season with 150+ all-purpose yards.

• Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Tre Mosley caught his first TD reception of the season and second of his career with a 26-yard TD catch in the first quarter, and recorded his first career multi-TD game adding a TD catch in the fourth quarter . . . Mosley becomes the third different MSU receiver with multi-TDs in a game and the fourth time this season, joining Jayden Reed (vs. Youngstown State, 9/11/21) and Jalen Nailor (at Miami, 9/18/21; at Rutgers (10/9/21), with three of four times coming on the road . . . Mosley finished Saturday's game with three catches for 44 yards and two TDs . . . Mosley has had at least one catch in eight of the nine games this season; he did not have a catch last week vs. Michigan, snapping a streak of 14 straight games with a reception dating back to last season . . . Saturday was Mosley's fifth game this season with three or more receptions and 10th outing of his career.

• Redshirt junior wide receiver Jayden Reed led MSU's receiving corps with four catches for 73 yards.

• Graduate senior tight end Connor Heyward snared three catches for a season-high 52 yards . . . it was Heyward's fifth game this season with three or more receptions . . . the 52 receiving yards was Heyward's second-highest receiving total of his career, behind 78 yards vs. Nebraska (11/17/18).

DEFENSE
• Michigan State's defense yielded a season-high 594 yards of total offense.

• The Spartan defense collected its seventh straight game with at least one fumble recovery (by Darius Snow), with one in each of the last six games along with two at Miami (9/18).

• Sophomore safety Darius Snow recorded his first career fumble recovery in the third quarter . . . Snow also registered a career-high 13 tackles, registering a new career-high for tackles in four of the last five games, as well as posting double-digit stops for the second game in a row after 10 vs. Michigan (10/30/21) . . . Snow's 11 solo stops Saturday bettered not only his previous career-high for solo stops (six, done twice vs. Rutgers and Michigan) but also total tackles as well . . . he also matched his career-best for tackles for loss with 1.5 Saturday, matching his total vs. Miami (9/18/21).

• Sophomore defensive end Jeff Pietrowski posted a sack for the fourth game this season and he now has 4.5 for the year . . . Pietrowski added a forced fumble in the third quarter, his second forced fumble of the season and his career, joining at Miami (9/18/21).

• Senior safety Xavier Henderson added eight tackles, including 1.0 tackle for loss . . . Henderson has had at least one TFL in each of the last six games as part of eighth time in nine games, as he has 9.0 for the season, taking over the team lead from teammate Jacub Panasiuk (8.5 TFL) . . . Henderson has posted seven or more stops in eight of the nine games, including each of the last four.

• Freshman cornerback Charles Brantley logged a career-high two pass break-ups, while junior cornerback Chester Kimbrough posted his third PBU in the last three games after a career-high two pass break-ups vs. Indiana (10/16/21).

SPECIAL TEAMS
• Freshman placekicker Stephen Rusnak made his Spartan debut in the first quarter with the PAT and ensuing kickoff, filling in for injured sixth-year senior placekicker Matt Coghlin . . . Rusnak ended 3-of-3 on PATs, 0-1 on FGs and had five kickoffs for a 55.4 ypk average . . . Rusnak became the first Spartan other than Coghlin to kick a PAT since 2016.

Players Mentioned

Charles Brantley

Matt Coghlin

Xavier Henderson

Connor Heyward

Chester Kimbrough

Tre Mosley

Jalen Nailor

Jacub Panasiuk

Jeff Pietrowski Jr.

Jayden Reed

Stephen Rusnak

Darius Snow

Payton Thorne

Kenneth Walker III

Michigan State University Athletics