Michigan State 35, Northwestern 27
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 23, 2010
Where: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois
Temperature:
54°
Head Official:
Alex Kemp
Attendance:
41115
By SportsDirect Inc.
Kirk Cousins passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns, as No. 8 Michigan State came from behind to secure a 35-27 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.
Mark Dell caught two touchdown passes, and B.J. Cunningham hauled in the go-ahead score for the Spartans (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten), who maintained their perfect record while winning outside the state of Michigan for the first time this season.
The Wildcats (5-2, 1-2) jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half, as quarterback Dan Persa rushed for a pair of scores.
But Michigan State battled back, cutting it to 17-7 before the half on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Dell and pulling within one score on Bennie Fowler’s 22-yard touchdown run early in the third.
Persa rushed for another score late in the third but Cousins took over in the fourth quarter. After converting a 4th-and-11 with a fake punt, Michigan State cut the lead to 24-21 with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Dell with 13:30 left to play.
After a Northwestern field goal pushed the lead to 27-21, Cousins led an 88-yard scoring drive, capped off by a juggling, one-handed catch by Cunningham for the go-ahead score.
Edwin Baker sealed the comeback victory, with a tackle-breaking touchdown run with with 1:07 remaining.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Michigan State |
|
Northwestern |
Edwin Baker
|
Player |
Mike Trumpy
|
10 |
Attempts |
10 |
73 |
Yards |
50 |
7.3 |
Avg Yards |
5.0 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sacks |
FF |
Michigan State
|
457 |
105 |
352 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
8.0 |
2 |
Northwestern
|
385 |
170 |
215 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2.0 |
2 |