EAST LANSING — Just when you thought you had Michigan State football figured out, it goes all 2020 on you.
A flailing run game matched up against one of the nation’s best defenses? Doesn’t matter.
A struggling quarterback who consequently has struggled to keep his job? Not a problem; he’ll just start flinging the ball around for touchdowns, all of a sudden.
A defense overmatched in two straight games and heading for a third straight meltdown? Nah, not this time.
JEFF SEIDEL:MSU’s upset over Northwestern more revealing than win over U-M
MSU GRADES:Mel Tucker pulls off masterpiece upset
The Spartans shocked 13th-ranked Northwestern from the outset Saturday. They used a 49-yard field goal from Matt Coghlin with 3:35 to play and got some timely runs from quarterback Rocky Lombardi in the fourth quarter to pull off a 29-20 upset.
Kalon Gervin recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown as time expired to give MSU coach Mel Tucker his second win in his debut season, both against ranked opponents.
“We were really able to show the mental toughness that it takes to win and beat good teams,” Tucker said. “I’m proud of this football team.”
Lombardi’s third-and-10 run set up Coghlin’s winning kick. He finished 11-of-27 passing for 167 yards and two TDs with an interception. He also ran 10 times for 65 yards, and junior Connor Heyward had 96 yards on 24 carries. The Spartans outgained the Wildcats, 362-294, and forced three Wildcat turnovers, including two Shakur Brown interceptions.
“It’s been a weird year. We got a new staff, we got a young offense and defense,” Lombardi said. “It’s just a combination of everything and trying to be consistent every week and put your best foot forward every week. Because in a league like this, in the Big Ten, if you don’t put your best foot forward every week, you can get beat by anybody, as we have seen.”
It was Michigan State’s first game since a 24-0 loss to Indiana on Nov. 14, which prompted Tucker to challenge his team’s effort and commitment to the program. “This is compete to play, compete to stay,” he said at the time.
The Spartans (2-3) had an extra week to buy into that mentality, after last week’s game against Maryland was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Terrapins’ program.
Next up is No. 3 Ohio State, which is dealing with its own coronavirus outbreak. The Buckeyes’ game against Illinois on Saturday was called off Friday when coach Ryan Day tested positive for COVID-19 and other cases forced OSU to halt the trip.
While the Buckeyes (5-0) spent Saturday wondering whether they will be able to play enough games to qualify for the Big Ten championship, the Spartans sent the Big Ten West-leading Wildcats (5-1) to their first loss by dominating the division leader from the outset.
MSU, after blowout losses to Iowa and the Hoosiers, entered averaging 73.8 yards rushing per game to rank 124th out of 127 Football Bowl Subdivision teams playing this fall, in large part buoyed by a season-high 126 in its win at Michigan on Oct. 31. The Spartans had 60 or fewer yards in each of their other three games — all losses.
Against the Wildcats, who came in allowing 100.6 yards a game to rank 13th nationally against the run, MSU came out and imposed its will at the line of scrimmage and eclipsed its season high with 134 yards rushing in the first half. Heyward ran 12 times for 71 yards, and Lombardi had five carries for 43 yards.
That ability to run the ball helped Lombardi open things up passing. He launched a 75-yard bomb to Jalen Nailor for a touchdown on MSU’s second possession, then early in the second quarter hit Jayden Reed on a 15-yard fade from the slot for a second scoring strike on the first play of the second quarter to cap a 13-play drive. A Shakur Brown interception after the first TD set up a 22-yard Coghlin field goal, giving the Spartans 17 points in just over the first 15 minutes of football.
The Wildcats got a pair of field goals late in the half, then opened the third quarter by quickly moving through the air into MSU territory, with 55 yards from Peyton Ramsey’s arm, and another 12 on a trick throwback pass from receiver Riley Lees. Then Ramsey capped it with a fourth-and-goal 1-yard TD run on a naked bootleg.
Northwestern took its first lead thanks to short field set up by a punt catching interference penalty on MSU’s Julian Barnett. Cam Porter took a Wildcat snap and ran it in for a 3-yard score with 13:54 to play to put the Wildcats ahead, 20-17.
The two teams traded turnovers — a Lombardi interception immediately followed by a Northwestern fumble recovered by MSU’s Jack Camper. That led to Coghlin’s 43-yard tying field goal with 10:11 remaining.
With 6:22 to play and Northwestern facing third-and-7, Brown picked off Ramsey’s throw to Berkeley Holman and knocked the Wildcats receiver to the ground. Holman had to be carted off the field, but the Spartans got the ball to set up Coghlin’s knuckleball of a winning kick.
Ramsey, who transferred to Northwestern from Indiana in the offseason, finished 21 of 43 for 210 yards and two interceptions with no TDs.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.
