2011 GAME RECAPS GAME 2 • NO. 17/16 MICHIGAN STATE 44, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0 Game 2 vs. Florida Atlantic Sept. 10, 2011 • East Lansing, Mich. Spartan Stadium • Att: 70,249
SCORE BY QUARTERS Florida Atlantic (0-2) Michigan State (2-0)
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Jerel Worthy and the Michigan State Spartans had a long week to stew after a sluggish performance in their season opener. Then they took the field against Florida Atlantic, ready to prove a point. Worthy helped set the tone with an early sack, and No. 17 Michigan State held FAU to one first down in a 44-0 victory over the Owls on Saturday. Kirk Cousins threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns for the Spartans, who outgained FAU 434-48. B.J. Cunningham caught five passes for 73 yards, breaking a tie with Matt Trannon for Michigan State’s career lead in receptions. The Spartans (2-0) led 27-0 at halftime. Michigan State has held an opponent to one first down only one other time - against Maryland in 1944. Cousins finished 16 of 20, and backup Andrew Maxwell also played quite a bit. Cunningham entered the game even with Trannon at 148 catches, but he had two receptions on Michigan State’s first drive to take sole possession of first place on that list. On the milestone catch, Cunningham actually stumbled and was juggling the ball while on his back before disappearing with it underneath a pile of players. Edwin Baker capped Michigan State’s first drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, and Le’Veon Bell added a 2-yard scoring run late in the quarter to make it 14-0. Dan Conroy equaled his career best with a 50-yard field goal that made it 17-0, then added a 41-yarder. Cousins made it 27-0 with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Dion Sims with 12 seconds remaining in the half, and the senior quarterback caught a bit of a break in the third quarter when his fourth-down pass went through the hands of FAU’s Keith Reaser and was caught by Garrett Celek for an 8-yard touchdown. The Spartans were uncharacteristically shaky on special teams against Youngstown State, but Keshawn Martin provided a boost Saturday with a nifty 35-yard punt return in the second quarter that helped set up Sims’ last-minute touchdown. Conroy did miss a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter, hitting the left upright. Backup kicker Kevin Muma made a field goal from the same distance in the fourth to make it 37-0. FAU quarterback Graham Wilbert went 4 of 10 for 15 yards, and the Owls couldn’t run the ball either against Michigan State’s tough defensive front. In the fourth quarter, FAU’s Xavier Stinson ran for 14 yards and what would have been the Owls’ second first down - but he fumbled, and Michigan State’s Jeremy Langford returned it 37 yards for a touchdown and a 44-0 lead. The only FAU first down came in the second quarter, when back-up quarterback David Kooi threw an 8-yard pass to DeAndre Richardson on second-and-4.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 0 14
2 0 13
3 0 7
4 0 10
-
F 0 44
FIRST QUARTER MSU (7-0) Baker 9-yard run (Conroy kick), 10:43 left Drive: 7 play, 51 yards, 3:23 MSU (14-0) Bell 2-yard run (Conroy kick), 1:44 left Drive: 12 plays, 73 yards, 6:39 SECOND QUARTER MSU (17-0) Conroy 50-yard field goal, 10:44 left Drive: 9 plays, 35 yards, 4:10 MSU (20-0) Conroy 41-yard field goal, 3:43 left Drive: 10 plays, 46 yards, 4:45 MSU (27-0) Sims 1-yard pass from Cousins (Conroy kick), 0:12 left Drive: 4 plays, 43 yards, 0:23 THIRD QUARTER MSU (34-0) Celek 8-yard pass from Cousins (Conroy kick), 2:42 left Drive: 13 plays, 56 yards, 6:59 FOURTH QUARTER MSU (37-0) Muma 28-yard field goal, 9:57 left Drive: 14 plays, 69 yards, 6:55 MSU (44-0) Langford 37-yard fumble recovery (Conroy kick), 8:22 left
TEAM STATISTICS
FAU
MSU
First Downs Rushes-Yards Passing Yards Passes Total Offense Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Possession Time
1 20-22 26 6-13-0 48 9-40.3 1-1 5-55 17:34
27 51-188 246 22-32-0 434 1-36.0 3-0 3-20 42:26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING (CARRIES-YARDS) MSU: Bell 14-69, Hill 14-58, Baker 9-50, Caper 9-2, Maxwell 2-(-4), Lippett 1-(-3), Cousins 1-(-6); FAU: Morris 10-21, Stinson 2-15, Floyd 2-6, White 1-1, Wilbert 1-(-10), Kooi 3-(-14). PASSING (C-A-I-YARDS-TD) MSU: Cousins 16-20-0-183-2, Maxwell 6-10-0-63-0, Badovinac 0-1-0-0-0; FAU: Wilbert 4-10-0-15-0, Kooi 2-3-0-11-0. RECEIVING (RECEPTIONS-YARDS) MSU: Martin 7-72, Cunningham 5-73, Sims 4-27, Nichol 2-40, Baker 1-9, Sonntag 1-9, Mumphery 1-8, Celek 1-8; FAU: Richardson 2-16, Morris 1-3, Clark 1-3, Williams 1-2, Dorvilus 1-2.
Michigan State’s defense tied a school record by allowing just one first down to Florida Atlantic. The Spartans held the Owls to just 48 yards of total offense, the lowest output for an MSU opponent since 1965 (Notre Dame, 12 yards).
TACKLES-TOP FIVE (TOTAL-SOLO-ASSISTS) MSU: Bullough 4 (2-2), M. White 3 (2-1), Elsworth 3 (1-2), Jones 3 (1-2), Drummond 3 (1-2), A.R. White 3 (1-2); FAU: Hinds 13 (6-7), Bartels 12 (7-5), Kirk 9 (2-7), Howard 8 (6-2), Two with 6.
80 2012 OUTBACK BOWL • MICHIGAN STATE VS. GEORGIA