NCAAF Game Recap - Maryland at Michigan State
Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:00 PM EST

Mer
0
Bama
56
F
UVA
28
MiaFL
44
F
Okla
41
Kans
3
F
Cit
3
Clem
61
F
Mich
10
Wisc
24
F
ULMon
14
Aub
42
F
KY
13
UGA
42
F
Ill
14
OSU
52
F
Navy
17
ND
24
F
K St
45
OkSt
40
F
TCU
27
TxTch
3
F
UCLA
23
USC
28
F
Neb
44
PSU
56
F
UCF
45
Temp
19
F
Utah
30
Wash
33
F
MissSt
28
Ark
21
F
SMU
45
Mem
66
F
Cal
14
Stan
17
F
LSU
30
Tenn
10
F
MD
7
MSU
17
F
Tuls
20
SoFL
27
F
Tex
28
WVU
14
F
NCSt
24
Wake
30
F
C Mi
42
Kent
23
F
Ohio
34
Akr
37
F
WestMI
31
NIU
35
F
E Mi
27
MiaOH
24
F
Toled
66
BGSU
37
F
Buff
40
Ball
24
F
TnSt
6
JacSt
36
F
MidTN
38
W Ky
41
F(2OT)
UNLV
38
NM
35
F
Cin
20
ECU
48
F
Lib
19
ChaSo
20
F
JMU
31
Elon
3
F
MIN
0
NW
39
F
Rut
0
Ind
41
F
DelSt
6
FlaSt
77
F
Pitt
14
VaTec
20
F
Fres
13
Wyo
7
F
HBU
33
SamHu
53
F
Rice
21
OD
24
F
IASt
23
Bayl
13
F
Hawaii
0
UtSt
38
F
TxSt
12
ArkSt
30
F
SoAl
0
GaSo
52
F
AzSt
40
OreSt
24
F
LT
42
UTEP
21
F
UMass
16
BYU
10
F
UNCC
21
SMiss
66
F
WCU
10
UNC
65
F
SJSU
14
ColSt
42
F
Purd
24
Iowa
15
F
Syr
10
Lou
56
F
GATec
20
Duke
43
F
Hou
17
Tul
20
F
Wof
10
SCar
31
F
UAB
7
Fla
36
F
CoCar
13
Idaho
7
F
NMS
34
ULLaf
47
F
Army
49
NorTx
52
F
Ariz
28
Oreg
48
F
Marsh
7
UTSA
9
F
TxAM
31
Miss
24
F
FLInt
24
FlAtl
52
F
BC
39
UConn
16
F
MIZ
45
Vand
17
F
AF
19
Boise
44
F
NEV
23
SDSU
42
F
BGSU
31
E Mi
34
F
MiaOH
28
Ball
7
F
Kent
14
Akr
24
F

Nov 18, 2017, 4:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Maryland (4-7)

0

0

0

7

7

(22) Michigan State (8-3)

7

7

3

0

17

No. 22 Michigan State beats Maryland 17-7 in the snow
Sat Nov 18, 2017 9:39 PM

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) Mark Dantonio sounded ready for a relaxing night by the fireplace after Michigan State's snowy victory over Maryland.

"We should've brought some hot chocolate in here," the Spartans' coach said to start his postgame news conference.

Dantonio's team has played some of its best football this year in unusual weather conditions, and on Saturday night, No. 22 Michigan State held off Maryland 17-7. LJ Scott ran for 147 yards and a touchdown on a day the Spartans completed only two passes and still won.

"I think we had a little bit of everything out on that field today from a weather standpoint," Dantonio said. "We had fog this morning, then we had the wind and the rain. Then it went to snow . ... I thought the field was in good shape when we got there, but it dissipated pretty quickly."

The Spartans (8-3, 6-2 Big Ten, No. 17 CFP) rushed for 271 yards, and that was about the only way they could move the ball. Quarterback Brian Lewerke was 2 of 14 for 20 yards, and one of his completions was a shovel pass late in the third quarter.

Maryland (4-7, 2-6) wasn't much better through the air until the final period. Max Bortenschlager finished 13 of 25 for 121 yards. He was taken out of the game in the third quarter but came back strong at the end.

"I was proud of Max, coming back in the fourth. We were able to throw the ball and move the ball a little bit," coach DJ Durkin said. "We had some chances and we didn't execute when we needed to."

Michigan State won in torrential conditions at Michigan on Oct. 7, then won at Minnesota the following week following a lightning delay. The Spartans beat Penn State on Nov. 4 in a game interrupted for over three hours by a weather delay.

It was raining before the game, and by halftime, the teams had to deal with snow in addition to consistently windy conditions. There wasn't any real snow accumulation on the field, but both teams had problems passing. Lewerke, who threw for 400 yards in back-to-back games earlier this season, wasn't going to be the man to lead this victory.

"Going in, we knew that they weren't the greatest run defense," Lewerke said. "They had given up 50 or more explosive runs - which were, you know, runs of 10 or more yards. No matter if the weather was going to be good or not, we knew we were going to be able to run the ball."

Scott gave Michigan State a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard run in the first quarter, and Lewerke scored on a 25-yard run in the second.

Michigan State's Matt Coghlin missed a field goal in the third quarter, but a penalty for running into the kicker gave him another chance, and he converted from 27 yards. That became crucial when Maryland's Lorenzo Harrison scored on a 4-yard run in the fourth and the Terps drove back into the red zone in the final minutes - but a missed field goal helped the Spartans close out the game.

THE TAKEAWAY

Maryland: The Terps have gone through significant injury problems at quarterback. Bortenschlager, who missed last week's loss to Michigan with an apparent head injury, was back, but the conditions made his job difficult. Maryland had a hard time stopping Michigan State's running game early, and this was not a good night to be trying to mount a rally.

Michigan State: The Spartans rebounded nicely from a 48-3 loss at Ohio State last weekend, and the running game delivered on a day when it was sorely needed.

SPARSE CROWD

The announced attendance was 70,216, but there appeared to be about a tenth of that in the stands by game's end. It was similar to the Penn State game, in which the Michigan State crowd was understandably thin because of bad weather.

"They were the passionate fans - those were the ones," Dantonio said. "They embraced it. They had a little bit of will as well, to stay in the elements. So they should be congratulated, and the win is their win as well."

DEFENSIVE EFFORT

The Terps were able to stay in the game thanks to their defense, which hung in there despite Michigan State's edge in time of possession. The Spartans had the ball for 34:38.

"We were bending but we weren't breaking," Maryland linebacker Jermaine Carter said. "But they still had a lot of yards rushing. You've got to be better at that."

POLL IMPLICATIONS

After a 3-9 season in 2016, the Spartans can call this season a significant step forward if they finish in the Top 25. That looks more likely now. If Michigan State can win next week and go 9-3 in the regular season, the Spartans could end up ranked no matter what happens in their bowl.

UP NEXT

Maryland: The Terps can no longer reach .500, but they'll try to finish on a positive note when they host Penn State next weekend.

Michigan State: The Spartans close the regular season at Rutgers.

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More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister

Passing

MD Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
M. Bortenschlager 25 13 52.0 0 121 21 0 65.6
MSU Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
B. Lewerke 14 2 14.3 0 20 12 0 39.6

Rushing

MD Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
L. Harrison III 13 50 3.8 14 1
T. Johnson 10 35 3.5 14 0
MSU Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
L. Scott 29 147 5.1 20 1
G. Holmes 11 64 5.8 16 0

Receiving

MD Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
D. Moore 8 76 9.5 20 0
T. Jacobs 3 38 12.7 21 0
MSU Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
M. Sokol 1 12 12.0 12 0
D. Stewart Jr. 1 8 8.0 8 0

Fumbles

MD F FL
M. Bortenschlager 1 1
MSU F FL
G. Holmes 1 1

Returning

MD KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
T. Johnson 2 9.5 0 14 0 0 0
D. Moore 0 0 0 1 2.0 0 2
MSU KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
C. Heyward 1 21.0 0 21 0 0 0
A. Simmons 1 32.0 0 32 0 0 0

Punting

MD Punt Yds Avg LgPu
W. Lees 8 328 41.0 58
MSU Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Hartbarger 7 261 37.3 54

Takeaways

Team Stats Comparison

MD MSU
Points For 7 17
Total Yards 204 291
Rushing Yards 83 271
Passing Yards 121 20
Passing Completions / Attempts 13/25 2/14
Turnovers 1 1
Interceptions Thrown 0 0
Fumbles - Lost 1/1 1/1
First Downs 12 19
Penalties - Yards 6/45 3/36
Time Of Possession 22:22 38:38
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 5/15 5/13
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/0 0/0
Punts - Average Yards 8/41 7/37

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter MD MSU
MSU 07:12 TD LJ Scott 2 yd run (Matt Coghlin kick) 0 7
2nd Quarter MD MSU
MSU 00:08 TD Brian Lewerke 25 yd run (Matt Coghlin kick) 0 14
3rd Quarter MD MSU
MSU 13:28 FG Matt Coghlin 27 yd FG 0 17
4th Quarter MD MSU
MD 05:10 TD Lorenzo Harrison III 4 yd run (Henry Darmstadter kick) 7 17

Game Information

Stadium: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
Attendance: 70,216
Game Time:
Weather: