Kenneth Walker III, Payton Thorne and Michigan State football continued their head-turning, perspective-changing revival. And then poured it on late.
Don’t look now, but the Spartans are continuing to put up big numbers on offense.
Thorne threw three of his four touchdowns in the second half, and Walker ran for 172 yards on 27 carries and scored on a short pass as the Spartans beat Miami (Florida) on Saturday afternoon, 38-17, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
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By the time Jayden Reed followed Connor Heyward’s block for an 8-yard touchdown run with 2:32 to play, coach Mel Tucker’s team had completely demoralized the Hurricanes – and continued to make a case as perhaps the surprise of the college football season.
MSU, in improving to 3-0 for the first time since 2015, proved to be the stronger and better-conditioned team in the Florida heat and humidity, with its offensive line taking control in the second half and the defensive line delivering blow after blow against Miami quarterback D’Eriq King.
It was the second straight game with four touchdown passes for Thorne, the sophomore who won the starting job coming out of preseason camp. He finished 18 of 31 for 261 yards passing with no turnovers, with Jalen Nailor catching four passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns, and Reed catching another.
The Spartans return home to Big Ten play and host Nebraska at 7 p.m. next Saturday.
King finished 38 of 59 for 388 passing yards, with 12 balls going for 156 yards and two scores to wide receiver Charleston Rambo for Miami (1-2). However, MSU held King to 7 yards rushing on 12 attempts and limited the Hurricanes to 52 yards on the ground. MSU collected two interceptions and two fumbles, both from King.
The Hurricanes were the last team out in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. MSU was the fourth team out, but will surely break into the rankings next week for the first time under Tucker.
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Finishing strong
Carrying a 10-7 lead into halftime, the Spartans outscored Miami 21-3 in the fourth quarter.
MSU opened the final period by taking advantage of the third of four Miami turnovers, a fumble by King deep in his own territory caused on a sack by Drew Beesley and a recovery by Jacub Panasiuk. Thorne barely beat the play clock and hit Reed for a 10-yard touchdown on a slant for a 24-14 lead.
After the Hurricanes got a 55-yard field goal by Andre Borregales on its next possession, Thorne’s 22-yard scramble on third-and-6 and 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-1 set up his 39-yard touchdown pass to Nailor on a double-move down the sideline.
An interception by cornerback Ronald Williams on the next Miami offensive play gave MSU the ball back in scoring territory, and Reed darted around the edge behind Heyward for the final score.
The Spartans finished with a 454-440 advantage in total offense, with 193 coming on the ground.
Steady building
After opening the game with two sluggish drives, each slowed by sacks of Thorne, the Spartans began to build some rhythm in a scoreless game on their third possession.
Thorne hit tight end Tyler Hunt for 20 yards a pair of passes to open the possession, then found Heyward for 9 more yards to soften Miami’s defense. That allowed Walker to burst around end for 26 yards to flip the field, and Matt Coghlin’s 23-yard field goal made it 3-0 MSU a little over a minute into the second quarter.
The Hurricanes answered, with King and Rambo zeroing in on cornerback Kalon Gervin five times for 70 yards. King rolled right on fourth-and-2 at the Spartans’ 3, and MSU lost Rambo for a wide-open touchdown catch in the back of the end zone with 10:08 left before halftime.
Each team traded long drives ending in missed field-goal attempts and missed opportunities to seize momentum. Walker made Miami pay after its wide-right attempt, though, with a 25-yard run off a nice misdirection play call and a 6-yard touchdown catch where he broke a tackle near the goal line to send MSU into halftime leading 10-7. Thorne also had a quick pass down the line of scrimmage that Nailor took 28 yards to set up the score.
Miami held a 267-222 edge in total yards at half. Thorne was 9 of 17 for 141 yards and no interceptions, while Walker had 86 yards on 12 carries and his touchdown catch.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
