Michigan State Falls to Rutgers on Senior Day
11/30/2024 7:08:00 PM | Football
Temperature at kickoff was 24 degrees, but fell during the game to the low-20s, and wind chills were in the teens throughout the game.
Graduate running back Kay'ron Lynch-Adams had nine carries for 69 yards and senior running back Nathan Carter had seven carries for 47 yards and one touchdown, while sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 13-of-23 passes for 150 yards with one score and junior tight end Jack Velling had six receptions for 77 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
Graduate defensive back Angelo Grose led the defensive unit with 10 tackles, including four unassisted stops, while graduate linebacker Cal Haladay had six tackles and senior linebacker Jordan Turner and junior defensive lineman Anthony Jones had five tackles apiece.
"Obviously a tough one," said MSU head coach Jonathan Smith. "Credit to Rutgers, but we didn't play well enough to earn a win or earn a chance to continue on playing. We've got a great appreciation for the guys in that locker room, spent a little bit of time digesting, talking to some seniors out of that group that put a lot in this place and played their final game, and got a lot of respect for them for really being open minded. To buy into a new way of doing things this year and I do think they played with great effort and showed some leadership.
"I told the team, these things are tough when you guys have just finished, so appreciated them and also spoke to the rest of the group. Those that didn't play their last game in Spartan Stadium, I'm still confident that we can get this thing in a way better place. It's gonna take some work, though. We're in the midst of it right now, and these things are disappointing and, it had some definite ups and downs this year, and we got to keep on plugging away and going to work. We gotta believe in our approach, our process and how we're doing it."
SCORING SUMMARY
Michigan State drove right down the field on its first possession, running the ball five straight times for 75 yards, capped by a 26-yard touchdown run by Carter to take a quick 7-0 lead.
Rutgers answered right back, taking advantage of two MSU penalties to start its opening series at the 50-yard line. Kyle Monangai finished off the five-play, 50-yard drive with a 7-yard TD to tie the game at 7 with 9:45 left in the first quarter. The Scarlet Knights then took over at the MSU 2-yard line after the Spartans mishandled a snap on a punt, but Michigan State kept Rutgers out of the end zone and forced a 25-yard field goal by Jai Patel.
On their fourth possession, MSU drove into the red zone, fueled by two first-down catches by Velling, but was stopped on fourth-and-1 on the 5-yard line to keep the score 10-7 in favor of Rutgers at the 10:01 mark in the second quarter.
The Scarlet Knights marched 94 yards on eight plays on the ensuing possession as Antwan Raymond's 13-yard rushing TD put Rutgers on top, 17-7, with 6:02 remaining in the first half.
Rutgers added two field goals before halftime, from 42 and 30 yards out, to take a 23-7 lead into the break.
Athan Kaliakmanis tossed a 7-yard TD pass to Ian Strong on the first possession of the third quarter to extend the Scarlet Knights' lead to 31-7.
In the fourth quarter, Patel connected on his fourth field goal with 10:55 left, this time from 29 yards out, to make it 34-7 in favor of Rutgers. The Spartans got back on the board on Velling's 5-yard TD catch from Chiles with 7:21 remaining.
Rutgers added a 5-yard touchdown run from Raymond with 1:57 left to close out the scoring.
Team Stats

RUT 0, MSU 7
MSU - Carter,Nate 26 yd run (Kim,Jonathan kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:34

RUT 7, MSU 7
RUT - Monangai,Kyle 7 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 5 plays, 50 yards, TOP 02:41

RUT 10, MSU 7
RUT - Patel,Jai 25 yd field goal 4 plays, -4 yards, TOP 00:52

RUT 17, MSU 7
RUT - Raymond,Antwan 13 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 8 plays, 94 yards, TOP 03:59

RUT 20, MSU 7
RUT - Patel,Jai 42 yd field goal 10 plays, 46 yards, TOP 03:42

RUT 23, MSU 7
RUT - Patel,Jai 30 yd field goal 9 plays, 41 yards, TOP 00:49

RUT 31, MSU 7
RUT - Strong,Ian 9 yd pass from Kaliakmanis,Athan (Duff,KJ pass) 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:34

RUT 34, MSU 7
RUT - Patel,Jai 29 yd field goal 12 plays, 46 yards, TOP 07:04

RUT 34, MSU 14
MSU - Velling,Jack 5 yd pass from Chiles,Aidan (Kim,Jonathan kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:34

RUT 41, MSU 14
RUT - Raymond,Antwan 5 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 7 plays, 56 yards, TOP 05:21