Michigan State can't hang on with No. 3 Indiana, falls 38-13 in Bloomington

Michigan State was first on the scoreboard Saturday at No. 3 Indiana, but the Spartans couldn't find the points to keep up with the Hoosiers' offense as they fell 38-13. The loss marks MSU's fourth straight defeat in Big Ten play, dropping the Spartans to 3-4 overall and 0-4 in conference play. The win for the Hoosiers gives IU just its third-ever winning streak in the series after a 47-10 victory in East Lansing last season.

The series against IU is the third most played of any for MSU, and its IU's first since a three-game stretch from 1967-1969 before MSU snapped it in 1970. The only other dates back to pre-Michigan State in the Big Ten -- for that matter it predates MSU even being "Michigan State" -- when IU won three of its first four meetings in the series from 1922-1940 with the 1939 matchup being a 7-7 tie in the only game played in East Lansing until 1950.

MSU finished the day with 367 yards of offense despite only managing 13 points. The Spartans also won the time of possession battle, besting IU 31:14 to 28:46.

Aidan Chiles finished the day 27-for-33 with one touchdown pass and no interceptions. Chiles also led the rush game with 48 total yards, though most of his rushing yards came from a big 64-yard scramble later in the game. Nick Marsh led the receiving corps with seven catches on nine targets for 64 yards and the lone MSU touchdown. Chrishon McCray was second in yards for the team with 42, tying Makhi Frazier and Jack Velling with three catches each between the three of them.

On the ground game, Elijah Tau-Tolliver led the attack with 13 yards on five carries. The Spartans finished with just 74 yards on 24 carries. Malcom Bell led the team in tackles with seven, five of them solo. He also notched on pass breakup. Jordan Hall Amorion Smith, and Alex VanSumeren each finished the game with six tackles apiece. The defense failed to log any sacks or quarterback hurries in the game.

IU's offense finished the day with 464 yards, including 332 through the air. Fernando Mendoza finished the game 24-for-28 with four touchdowns while Elijah Sarratt proved the favorite for the end zone with two touchdown catches. Omar Cooper Jr. led the Hoosiers with eight catches for 115 yards, including the team's long of 48 along with one touchdown. Kaelon Black added one touchdown on the ground while leading the IU rush attack with 10 carries for 64 yards and one touchdown.

The IU defense finished the day with four sacks, three pass break ups, and one quarterback hurry.

First Half

Michigan State started off as well as fans could hope on the road against the No. 3 team in the country, scoring on both drives to secure an early lead each time. IU won the toss, but deferred to the second half with the Spartans to receive the ball in the south end zone to open the game. The Spartans managed to drive down 55 yards over 13 plays before settling for a 38 yard field goa. A false start by Michael Masunas on second-and-10 seemed to stall the drive on the final series as Chiles connected with Tullis to the edge of the red zone at IU's 20 yard line but still five yards shy of the first down two plays later. Martin Connington's kick was good and MSU led 3-0 with almost half the quarter over as just 8:07 remained on the clock.

The Hoosiers responded with a touchdown of their own, advancing 75 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-3 lead with 2:40 left in the quarter. MSU answered right back with another clock-eating drive, this one ending in the end zone. The Spartans kept the drive alive to move 75 yards over 13 plays, but didn't let a holding call on second-and-12 from the IU 18 against Conner Moore kill the drive this time. Two plays later, Chiles connected with Marsh a 15-yard touchdown. The PAT was good and MSU once again led, this time 10-7 with 9:22 left in the game.

That would mark the high-water mark for Michigan State as Indiana took just five plays to retake the lead for good. The Hoosiers drive included big catches of 19, 39, and 24 yards respectively with the last two advancing them all the way to the end zone. The PAT was good and IU led 14-10.

MSU was forced to punt it away on its next drive and the Hoosiers scored one more touchdown for good measure late in the first to make it 21-10 heading into the locker room. MSU attempted a hurry up drive with less than a minute left on the clock following IU's touchdown but stalled out at midfield.

Second Half

Following a brief weather delay that extended halftime longer than normal, the Hoosiers opened the second half and proceeded to score on their first two possessions to open a 35-10 lead. In between, MSU attempted a 50-yard field goal but it was wide right. When IU had the ball to close the third quarter and extend into the fourth, the Spartans' defense finally got a stop as IU failed to convert on fourth-and-4 from the MSU seven yard line. As MSU took over on offense, Chiles took off for a 64-yard gain on third-and-2 to put MSU right on the line of the red zone again. Heavy pressure with little protection from his line resulted in Chiles getting sacked twice including for a loss of nine yards when the Spartans went for it on fourth-and-13 to turn it over on downs.

Indiana took over with 8:58 left in the game and methodically marched it down the field eating clock and settled for a 31-yard field goal to extend its lead to 38-10 with just 1:56 left on the clock.

Michigan State opted to utilize Alessio Milivojevic under center for its final drive, and it seemed to work in that the drive ended in points despite stalling out. Milivojevic connected on four straight passes for double-digit yards, going for 11, 10, 18, and 22, respectively, to advance into the red zone. The drive stalled out at IU's 14 yard line as Milivojevic was sacked and then threw two-straight incompletions before the coaches opted for the points this time instead of trying to convert on fourth-and-12. The 34 yarder by Connington was good and that was essentially the game as rain began to come down hard with just 33 seconds remaining.

IU kneeled it out after the kickoff and took the win. MSU returns to Spartan Stadium next week when it will host rival Michigan with the game time and network finally being so graciously announced by the kind and caring network executives later tonight or early tomorrow.