Indiana headed into East Lansing after the bye-week looking to contend with 12th-ranked Michigan State.
Here was the view from my broadcast booth.
The Spartans (9-2, 6-1) outplayed Indiana (1-10, 0-7) in every aspect of the game for a 55-3 victory and earning a bid to the first-ever Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis. They will face either Penn State or Wisconsin.
MSU has now beat IU for the brass spittoon three straight times and in 11 out of the last 13 meetings.
I broadcast the game on WIUX and unfortunately, the game was never close.
Michigan State scored on all but one possession in the first half and took a 34-3 lead into the locker room. At this point, hundreds of Spartan fans even began filing out of Spartan Stadium.
Too many times Indiana has given up big plays and today was no different. MSU’s first two touchdowns were scored on a 63-yard pass to B.J. Cunningham and a 47-yard strike to Keshawn Martin. That just can’t happen.
Senior quarterback Kirk Cousins picked apart the Indiana defense, completing 16-of-23 passes for 272 yards and three scores. He is second all-time for touchdowns and total yards in his career. Cousins had tremendous accuracy, throwing to his receivers’ outside shoulder where only they could catch it. He was pulled on senior day mid-way through third quarter.
Mark Dantonio has done a great job at Michigan State. His team is undefeated at home the last two seasons and he has won more wins than any Michigan State coach in their first five seasons. His consistency in East Lansing is something Kevin Wilson hopes to duplicate.
True-freshman Tre Roberson had his worst performance of the year. He failed to gain any kind of momentum and didn’t have great blocking that gave him time to operate. He finished the day 10-of-23 for just 92 yards and two interceptions. Today was another growing pain for the talented quarterback.
Indiana’s didn’t cross the goal line, as their only score of the game came from a Mitch Ewald 22-yard field goal.
Michigan State dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I remember Kevin Wilson saying the same thing in a season-opening loss to Ball State. Part of the problems are due to IU’s youth and inexperience. Many haven’t played on this type of stage against more athletic and bigger opponents.
Coach Kevin Wilson is trying to build a culture at Indiana, a program that has struggled to have a winning football program. He’s trying to set standards and instill values for the long-term. It’s tough seeing little success on the field but Hoosier fans have to stick by him for the future.
Indiana hosts rival-Purdue next Saturday looking to retain possession of the Old Oaken Bucket and win their first Big Ten game of the season. Like last season, it would be a great way to close their season. Kick-off is set for 3:30 pm.