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Spartans hammer Hoosiers

Oct 19, 2014 - 2:49 AM Bloomington, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Connor Cook passed for 332 yards with three touchdowns and an interception to lead No. 8 Michigan State to a 56-17 win over Indiana on Saturday.

Nick Hill had 178 yards with a touchdown on the ground. Jeremy Langford rushed for 109 yards with three scores and Tony Lippett led all receivers with 123 yards for the Spartans (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten), who have won five straight games.

"Big game for our football team to get our sixth win," Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio said. "I thought the football game went in a different way a little bit. It was very competitive early on."

Michigan State's defense, which ranked fifth nationally in terms of yards allowed entering the game, was stout against the pass in this one.

Zander Diamont, making his first career start for Indiana in place of an injured Nate Sudfeld, struggled to just 11 yards on 5-of-15 passing, but he did contribute a rushing touchdown.

Tevin Coleman, the nation's leading rusher coming in, finished with 132 yards on 15 carries in the setback. Shane Wynn had a rushing score for the Hoosiers (3-4, 0-3), who have lost three of its last four games overall.

Michigan State, which has now won six straight meetings against Indiana, forced a three-and-out to open the game, then Langford got the Spartans on the board with a 32-yard TD run. Langford bolted up the middle before putting a strong stiff arm to the facemask of Tim Bennett at the Indiana 10 and barrelling over the Hoosiers defensive back, into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Following a missed field goal by Michael Geiger from 42 yards out, Coleman moved Indiana into the red zone with a 65-yard scamper down to the Michigan State 10. The drive stalled from there, however, as Griffin Oakes came on and converted a 27-yard field goal.

On the Spartans' ensuing drive, Hill's 25-yard run set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Josiah Price with just over 12 minutes remaining until halftime.

It didn't take long for Indiana to answer with help from a trick play and some hard running from Wynn. The Hoosiers called for an end-around on their first play of the new possession and Wynn took the ball up the far sideline, slipped through three would-be tacklers and sprinted into the end zone for a 75-yard score to make it 14-10.

Cook was intercepted by Tegray Scales with under six minutes to go and Coleman followed with a 30-yard run to the Michigan State 9-yard line. Diamont then rushed for a touchdown on the next play to give Indiana a 17-14 lead.

"Everybody followed Tevin and he just tossed the ball back to me and I just ran," Wynn said. "So I broke a few tackles and luckily stayed in bounds."

The Spartans responded with a quick scoring march that would be the start of 42 unanswered points. Price made another nice grab, this time a 67-yard catch- and-run, which led to Langford's 8-yard TD run to push the visitors back in front with 3:59 to play in the second.

Michigan State continued to score at a swift pace, capping the first-half scoring with a 7-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a 14-yard TD pass from Cook to Macgarrett Kings Jr. for a 28-17 lead.

Cook and Lippett hooked up for a stunning pitch-and-catch on the Spartans' second touch of the second half. Michigan State's signal caller kept the play alive by rolling to his right, then back to his left before launching a pass up to Lippett, who made an over-the-shoulder grab for a 41-yard gain. R.J. Shelton ended the series with a 4-yard TD reception on a shovel pass from Cook to extend the margin to 35-17.

Langford put the game away early in the fourth with a 12-yard TD dash that gave the Spartans a comfortable 25-point edge, and Delton Williams added a 22- yard touchdown run. Hill then polished off the rout with a 76-yard touchdown scamper.

Game Notes

Dantonio coached in his 100th game at the school, joining Duffy Daugherty (183), George Perles (139), and Charlie Bachman (114) ... Dantonio tied Bachman for second on the school's all-time wins list with 70 ... Price finished with 83 yards receiving and Kings had 59 ... The Spartans took home the Old Brass Spittoon for winning the conference matchup. Since 1950, Michigan State is now 44-12-1 against the Hoosiers with the cup on the line ... The Spartans have now won 12 straight in conference.