College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan State 26, Minnesota 10
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, November 24, 2012
Where: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 25°
Head Official: Dennis Lipski
Attendance: 44194


Michigan State 26, Minnesota 10: Le'Veon Bell rushed for a career-best 266 yards and a touchdown as the Spartans became bowl-eligible with a road victory over the Golden Gophers, who finished the game without their coach, Jerry Kill.

Kill didn't return to the field for the second half after suffering a seizure at halftime. Kill, who has a history of seizures, including suffering one after an Oct. 13 loss to Northwestern, was home resting Saturday night.

Michigan State (6-6, 3-5 Big Ten) extended its school-record streak of bowl appearances to six. The Spartans' defense held Minnesota to only four yards rushing and 96 yards of total offense, and picked off Gophers quarterbacks four times.

Bell rushed 35 times, averaging 7.6 yards per carry. Andrew Maxwell was 13-of-29 passing for 143 yards and a 41-yard touchdown to Bennie Fowler that put Michigan State ahead for good with 1:28 to play in the first half.

Minnesota (6-6, 2-6) got its only touchdown when Aaron Hill picked off Maxwell and returned it 33 yards for a score in the first quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bell became the seventh player in Michigan State history to go over 3,000 yards rushing in a career. ... Minnesota managed only seven first downs in the game, the first time the Gophers have failed to record 10 or more first downs since a Nov. 12, 2011 loss to Wisconsin. … Michigan State leads the series 28-17.



Top Game Performances
Rushing
Michigan State   Minnesota
Le'Veon Bell Player Donnell Kirkwood
35 Attempts 10
266 Yards 19
7.6 Avg Yards 1.9
1 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Michigan State   Minnesota
Bennie Fowler Player Andre McDonald
7 Receptions 3
101 Yards 36
14.4 Avg Yards 12.0
1 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Michigan State 421 278 143 2 4 4 2.0 2
Minnesota 96 4 92 0 1 2 2.0 1