Rutgers Comes Up Short Against Michigan State

MICHIGAN STATE 27 - RUTGERS 21

Despite rolling up 460 yards of offense on the day, Rutgers couldn't slow down Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne, who threw for 256 yards and two scores in the Spartans 27-21 win over the Scarlet Knights on Saturday in East Lansing.

Penalties were a major issue for the Scarlet Knights on Saturday afternoon. Rutgers was flagged 14 times for 107 yards. Three of those penalties came on special teams. Another one was a roughing the passer penalty that extended a Michigan State drive in the third quarter. Rutgers also missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter that would have cut the Michigan State lead down to four points.

"It's tough to overcome, three of them on special teams. We talked about getting penalties on your return team. You end up backed up and the crowd gets into it. You can't do that," Head Coach Greg Schiano said afterwards.

The good news for Rutgers was their offense was clicking against Michigan State. Kyle Monangai had a career day, rushing for 162 yards on 24 carries, and Rutgers -- as a team -- ran for 224 yards on offense on the ground.

Quarterback Gavin Wismatt bounced back a bit from last week's three-interception fest against Michigan to toss for 236-yards and two touchdowns.

"It was big step forward. The step forward was zero turnovers. He read it out, and gave us a chance to win today," Schiano said of Wismatt.

On Monangai's big day: "I think Kyle showed up in a big, big way today," Schiano added. "We will keep playing as many guys as we can to help us on the offensive line. We are getting better. It may not be fast enough, even for me. But we understand, they are a mature group. Eventually, it will turn. I think we are getting closer. We just haven't put it together in all three phases yet."

The big problem for Rutgers was their inability to stay discipline defensively, and the fact that Thorne picked apart one of the nation's top defensive units.

In the first half alone, Thorne engineered two long touchdown drives, one of which was assisted by a pass interference penalty on Rutgers' Avery Young on a critical third and goal at the eight. Instead of getting off the field potentially down only 10-7; Michigan State was granted an automatic first down and scored a touchdown on the next play when Jalen Burger scored from two yards out to make it 14-7.

Michigan State wouldn't trail again the rest of the day.

There was some controversy at the end of the fist half when Rutgers didn't use its timeouts during its final drive before the half down 21-14. A 14-yard run by Aaron Young gave Rutgers life at their own 25-yard line with 1:33 to go, but RU never called any of its three timeouts. When Rutgers finally called one there was 17 seconds to go.

"It's a one score game, we can't let it be a two score game going into the half. We were in area near mid-field where we go into a formation we call T-2. We took a shot into the wind, but we couldn't once we had a penalty again. I would do that half again exactly the way we did it," Schiano said.

There was some controversy over clock management in the final minute and a half of Rutgers 27-21 loss to Michigan State on Saturday.

Michigan State honored veterans on this Veteran's Day weekend with these really surreal helmets.

Gavin Wismatt enjoyed a turnover free game on Saturday, including this strike for a touchdown.