Michigan State Football: Spartans knock off Maryland on the road

Michigan State football kept longshot hopes of a New Year’s Six bid alive with a big win over Maryland. Here is what we learned from the takedown of the Terrapins.

It was a trying week in College Park that was entirely of the school’s own making. Head coach D.J. Durkin, after the investigation into the death of Jordan McNair in the spring, was reinstated by the University of Maryland Board of Trustees on Tuesday. Durkin was then fired a day later by the school, and thus the Terrapins went into their Big Ten East showdown against Michigan State with interim coach Matt Canada still at the helm of the ship.

A strong Terrapins secondary did a great job of bottling up Brian Lewerke. The Spartans quarterback finished just 11-of-20 for 87 yards, as he averaged an anemic 4.3 yards per attempt and tossed a pick in the process. Lewerke did add 45 yards on the ground, though, as Michigan State pulled out a 24-3 victory on the road in College Park on Saturday afternoon.

In the end, though, it wouldn’t matter who was coaching the Terrapins on Saturday. Michigan State finished with nearly 400 yards of total offense, as the Terps bottled up the passing game but had few answers for the Spartans ground game. Connor Heyward led the way with 157 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to pace the win.

The Spartans defense in turn shut down the Maryland offense, holding Kasim Hill and company to only 100 total yards all day. It was a masterful display by Mark Dantonio‘s defense as they shut down a Terps team still struggling to find a consistent identity.

With Ohio State coming to East Lansing next week, Michigan State is rounding into good form at the right time to set a trap against the Buckeyes. While the Big Ten East is pretty much out of reach due to their head-to-head loss against state rival Michigan, the Spartans can still play spoiler and ruin Ohio State’s chances of playing for the Big Ten title before they even go to the Big House on Thanksgiving weekend.

Maryland, meanwhile, remains a team in transition. After the trying week, a program in flux will try to pick itself back up after this Spartans loss with a test against Indiana in Bloomington. That could be Maryland’s last chance to reach bowl eligibility, as they close out the year with Ohio State at home and Penn State in Happy Valley.