Spartans Drop Heartbreaker at Iowa, 20-17

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hawkeye kicker Drew Stevens hit a 44-yard field goal as time expired to cap a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback for Iowa as Michigan State fell at Kinnick Stadium, 20-17, Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans led 17-7 going into the fourth quarter, but Iowa (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) scored 13 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes to rally for the victory.

Making his third career start at quarterback, redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic completed 25-of-42 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Senior tight end Jack Velling recorded career bests for receptions (8) and receiving yards (88) while redshirt junior Chrishon McCray had six catches for 75 yards, including two TD grabs (45 and 5 yards).

MSU forced a season-high two turnovers on defense and outgained the Hawkeyes, 335-301.

Redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Matthews led the Spartan defense with nine tackles, including an 8-yard loss. Junior linebacker Jordan Hall registered eight stops and graduate senior cornerback Malcolm Bell and graduate senior defensive lineman Quindarius Dunnigan both had a sack and two tackles for loss. The Spartans collected three sacks and seven tackles for loss overall.

SCORING SUMMARY
After both teams traded punts on their first two possessions, the Spartans forced a turnover on Iowa's third series as Malik Spencer intercepted a pass at the MSU 6-yard line before going out of bounds.

The Spartans were forced to punt, however, and Iowa's Kaden Wetjen returned it 62 yards for his third punt return touchdown of the season, giving the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead with 3:38 left in the first quarter.

On its fifth offensive series, Michigan State drove the ball to the Iowa 5-yard line to set up first-and-goal, but had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Martin Connington to make it 7-3 at the 2:54 mark in the first half. Connington's field goal capped a 14-play, 78-yard drive that took 6:19 off the clock.

Iowa's Drew Stevens missed a 53-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to keep the score 7-3 in favor of the Hawkeyes at halftime.

Michigan State forced its second turnover on Iowa's first series of the third quarter, as Mark Gronowski fumbled on a third down scramble that was recovered by Jordan Hall at the Hawkeye 38-yard line. Two plays later, Alessio Milivojevic found Chrishon McCray in the end zone on a 45-yard touchdown pass to give MSU its first lead of the game, 10-7, with 8:58 left in the third.

The Spartans extended their lead to 17-7 later in the third quarter on an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Brandon Tullis' season-long 35-yard rush to the Iowa 5-yard line set up first-and-goal, and on third-and-goal, McCray hauled in his second TD pass of the game with a leaping 5-yard grab in the corner of the end zone.

Iowa trimmed its deficit to 17-10 on a 26-yard field goal by Stevens at the 11:27 mark in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans stopped the Hawkeyes on the next two series following the field goal, but Wetjen returned a punt 40 yards to the MSU 42-yard line with 2:37 left in the game to ignite the Hawkeyes; he finished the game with three punt returns for 147 yards. Five plays later, Gronowski threw a 13-yard touchdown to Jacob Gill to tie the game at 17 with 1:29 remaining.

MSU drove the ball to its own 45-yard line, but was forced to punt on fourth-and-2, and Iowa took over at its 21-yard line with 41 seconds left. Gronowski completed three straight passes to set up Iowa at the MSU 25-yard line, and following a run, Stevens drilled the game-winner on the last play of the game.

UP NEXT
Michigan State (3-8, 0-8 Big Ten) will take on Maryland (4-7, 1-7) at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Nov. 29. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on FS1.

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Team Stats

Alessio Milivojevic

Players Mentioned

Malcolm Bell

Martin Connington

Quindarius Dunnigan

Jordan Hall

Chrishon McCray

Alessio Milivojevic

Malik Spencer

Brandon Tullis

Jack Velling