Saturday, October 14
Piscataway, NJ
12 PM
Michigan State University
2-4 , 0-3
24
at
27
Rutgers
5-2 , 2-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Michigan St.
7
10
7
0
24
Rutgers
3
3
0
21
27
Photo by: Rey Del Rio/MSU Athletic Communications
Spartans Fall at Rutgers, 27-24
10/14/2023 4:39:00 PM | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Michigan State football team took a 24-6 lead into the fourth quarter, but Rutgers scored 21 unanswered points to rally for the 27-24 victory over the Spartans on Saturday afternoon at SHI Stadium.
Making his first career start at quarterback, redshirt freshman Katin Houser was 18-of-29 passing for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Graduate senior Tre Mosley caught a team-high six passes for 36 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter, while senior Montorie Foster Jr. had five receptions for 48 yards. Redshirt sophomore Nate Carter led the Spartans on the ground with 52 yards on 20 carries, while redshirt junior Jalen Berger had a season-high 49 yards on 11 carries.
Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay posted a team-best eight tackles, including an 11-yard sack. Jaden Mangham recorded his second interception of the season, while Chance Rucker picked off his first career pass
"Tough game for our guys," said MSU interim head coach Harlon Barnett. "At halftime, that's all we talked about, finish, finish, finish. I felt like we had the momentum, but when the momentum switch happened we couldn't stop them from going downhill."
The Spartans (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time this season, driving 75 yards on 14 plays over a span of 7:28, capped by a 13-yard pass from Houser to Foster.
Rutgers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) responded with a 22-yard field goal by Jai Patel on its opening drive to make it 7-3 in favor of MSU with 2:52 left in the first quarter. The Scarlet Knights added another field goal, this time from 47 yards out by Patel, on its second drive to trim MSU's lead to 7-6 early in the second quarter.
Michigan State took advantage of three Rutgers turnovers in the second quarter to take a 17-6 lead into halftime. Although the Spartans couldn't capitalize on Rucker's first career interception and were forced to punt, Rutgers' Rashad Rochelle fumbled the punt return at the Scarlet Knights' 12-yard line. On the next play, Houser raced up the middle 12 yards for the touchdown to make it 14-6 with 1:46 left in the first half.
Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw another interception on his next series as Jaden Mangham recorded his second interception of the season. The Spartans then went on a 10-play, 50-yard drive right before the half, finished off by a 37-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim.
MSU had a strong start to the second half, forcing a Rutgers punt on its first series, followed by a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to give the Spartans a 24-6 lead at the 3:41 mark in the third quarter. Houser closed the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Mosley.
But Rutgers took advantage of Michigan State miscues in the fourth quarter to outscore the Spartans 21-0 in the final 15 minutes.
Rutgers first capitalized to start the fourth quarter as a fumbled snap on a Spartan punt in the end zone led to a Scarlet Knights touchdown, cutting the MSU lead to 24-13. After forcing a Spartan punt, Rutgers went down the field 73 yards on 12 snaps in just 3:45 to score its first offensive touchdown of the afternoon; it added a 2-point conversion to trim the Spartan advantage to 24-21 with 8:30 left in the game.
Rutgers recovered the ensuing kickoff on a short kick to the MSU 21-yard line, and on the next play, Kyle Monangai raced 21 yards into the end zone to give Rutgers its first lead of the game, 27-24, with 7:05 remaining. The Scarlet Knights failed on the 2-point attempt to keep the lead within three points, but the Spartans were forced to punt on their next possession, and Rutgers ran out the clock with four first downs to seal the comeback win.
Michigan State returns to action next Saturday, Oct. 21 at home vs. Michigan in Spartan Stadium. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on NBC.
Making his first career start at quarterback, redshirt freshman Katin Houser was 18-of-29 passing for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Graduate senior Tre Mosley caught a team-high six passes for 36 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter, while senior Montorie Foster Jr. had five receptions for 48 yards. Redshirt sophomore Nate Carter led the Spartans on the ground with 52 yards on 20 carries, while redshirt junior Jalen Berger had a season-high 49 yards on 11 carries.
Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay posted a team-best eight tackles, including an 11-yard sack. Jaden Mangham recorded his second interception of the season, while Chance Rucker picked off his first career pass
"Tough game for our guys," said MSU interim head coach Harlon Barnett. "At halftime, that's all we talked about, finish, finish, finish. I felt like we had the momentum, but when the momentum switch happened we couldn't stop them from going downhill."
The Spartans (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time this season, driving 75 yards on 14 plays over a span of 7:28, capped by a 13-yard pass from Houser to Foster.
Rutgers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) responded with a 22-yard field goal by Jai Patel on its opening drive to make it 7-3 in favor of MSU with 2:52 left in the first quarter. The Scarlet Knights added another field goal, this time from 47 yards out by Patel, on its second drive to trim MSU's lead to 7-6 early in the second quarter.
Michigan State took advantage of three Rutgers turnovers in the second quarter to take a 17-6 lead into halftime. Although the Spartans couldn't capitalize on Rucker's first career interception and were forced to punt, Rutgers' Rashad Rochelle fumbled the punt return at the Scarlet Knights' 12-yard line. On the next play, Houser raced up the middle 12 yards for the touchdown to make it 14-6 with 1:46 left in the first half.
Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw another interception on his next series as Jaden Mangham recorded his second interception of the season. The Spartans then went on a 10-play, 50-yard drive right before the half, finished off by a 37-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim.
MSU had a strong start to the second half, forcing a Rutgers punt on its first series, followed by a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to give the Spartans a 24-6 lead at the 3:41 mark in the third quarter. Houser closed the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Mosley.
But Rutgers took advantage of Michigan State miscues in the fourth quarter to outscore the Spartans 21-0 in the final 15 minutes.
Rutgers first capitalized to start the fourth quarter as a fumbled snap on a Spartan punt in the end zone led to a Scarlet Knights touchdown, cutting the MSU lead to 24-13. After forcing a Spartan punt, Rutgers went down the field 73 yards on 12 snaps in just 3:45 to score its first offensive touchdown of the afternoon; it added a 2-point conversion to trim the Spartan advantage to 24-21 with 8:30 left in the game.
Rutgers recovered the ensuing kickoff on a short kick to the MSU 21-yard line, and on the next play, Kyle Monangai raced 21 yards into the end zone to give Rutgers its first lead of the game, 27-24, with 7:05 remaining. The Scarlet Knights failed on the 2-point attempt to keep the lead within three points, but the Spartans were forced to punt on their next possession, and Rutgers ran out the clock with four first downs to seal the comeback win.
Michigan State returns to action next Saturday, Oct. 21 at home vs. Michigan in Spartan Stadium. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on NBC.
Team Stats
MSU
RU
Total Yards
239
295
Pass Yards
133
181
Rushing Yards
106
114
Penalty Yards
38
70
1st Downs
23
20
3rd Downs
4
4
4th Downs
2
2
TOP
30:19
29:41
1st Quarter
MSU 7, RU 0
MSU - Foster Jr.,Montorie 13 yd pass from Houser,Katin (Kim,Jonathan kick) 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:28
MSU 7, RU 3
RU - Patel,Jai 22 yd field goal 10 plays, 61 yards, TOP 04:40
2nd Quarter
MSU 7, RU 6
RU - Patel,Jai 47 yd field goal 7 plays, 46 yards, TOP 03:15
MSU 14, RU 6
MSU - Houser,Katin 12 yd run (Kim,Jonathan kick), 1 plays, 12 yards, TOP 00:04
MSU 17, RU 6
MSU - Kim,Jonathan 37 yd field goal 10 plays, 44 yards, TOP 01:31
3rd Quarter
MSU 24, RU 6
MSU - Mosley,Tre 4 yd pass from Houser,Katin (Kim,Jonathan kick) 14 plays, 80 yards, TOP 06:28
4th Quarter
MSU 24, RU 13
RU - Young,Aaron 0 yd fumble recovery (Patel,Jai kick)
MSU 24, RU 21
RU - Washington,Isaiah 4 yd pass from Wimsatt,Gavin (Dremel,Christian pass) 12 plays, 73 yards, TOP 03:45
MSU 24, RU 27
RU - Monangai,Kyle 21 yd run (), 1 plays, 21 yards, TOP 00:07
Game Leaders
CMP
18
TD
2
YDS
133
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
K
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
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DB
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