NCAAF Game Recap - Rutgers at Michigan State
Sat Nov 24, 2018 4:00 PM EST

Aub
21
Bama
52
F
SCar
35
Clem
56
F
ND
24
USC
17
F
Mich
39
OSU
62
F
GATec
21
UGA
45
F
Okla
59
WVU
56
F
Wash
28
WaSt
15
F
UCF
38
SoFL
10
F
LSU
72
TxAM
74
F(6OT)
Tex
24
Kans
17
F
Fla
41
FlaSt
14
F
UtSt
24
Boise
33
F
MD
3
PSU
38
F
KY
56
Lou
10
F
BYU
27
Utah
35
F
Syr
42
BC
21
F
Ill
16
NW
24
F
MissSt
35
Miss
3
F
Pitt
3
MiaFL
24
F
K St
38
IASt
42
F
NIU
21
WestMI
28
F
Ball
21
MiaOH
42
F
ColSt
19
AF
27
F
Hou
31
Mem
52
F
Neb
28
Iowa
31
F
C Mi
13
Toled
51
F
Akr
28
Ohio
49
F
E Mi
28
Kent
20
F
Buff
44
BGSU
14
F
Ark
0
MIZ
38
F
CoCar
28
SoAl
31
F
UVA
31
VaTec
34
F OT
ECU
6
Cin
56
F
Oreg
55
OreSt
15
F
Navy
28
Tul
29
F
Bayl
35
TxTch
24
F
W Ky
30
LT
15
F
Purd
28
Ind
21
F
Marsh
28
FLInt
25
F
NCSt
34
UNC
28
F OT
Wake
59
Duke
7
F
OD
13
Rice
27
F
GaSo
35
GASt
14
F
NMS
21
Lib
28
F
Wyo
31
NM
3
F
Troy
10
App
21
F
Del
6
JMU
20
F
ULLaf
31
ULMon
28
F
Stan
49
UCLA
42
F
SMiss
39
UTEP
7
F
UAB
3
MidTN
27
F
AzSt
41
Ariz
40
F
MIN
37
Wisc
15
F
SMU
24
Tuls
27
F
Temp
57
UConn
7
F
ArkSt
33
TxSt
7
F
Tenn
13
Vand
38
F
Rut
10
MSU
14
F
UNCC
27
FlAtl
24
F
SJSU
13
Fres
31
F
Colo
21
Cal
33
F
NorTx
24
UTSA
21
F
(N/A)
27
JacSt
34
F
OkSt
24
TCU
31
F
NEV
29
UNLV
34
F
Hawaii
31
SDSU
30
F OT

Nov 24, 2018, 4:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Rutgers (1-11)

7

0

0

3

10

Michigan State (7-5)

0

7

0

7

14

Michigan State scores late TD, beats Rutgers 14-10
Sat Nov 24, 2018 10:04 PM

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) Down by three against lowly Rutgers in the last home game of the season, Michigan State pulled out all the stops.

"I think we called every play out there on the sheet," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said. "Some more than once, but you've got to execute."

Cody White scored on a 22-yard end-around with 3:57 to play, and Michigan State edged the Scarlet Knights 14-10 on Saturday night, handing Rutgers its 11th straight loss. The Spartans never led until White's touchdown, but they held the Scarlet Knights to 217 yards of offense and 10 first downs.

The Spartans (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) trailed 10-7 when William Przystup's punt pinned Rutgers (1-11, 0-9) back at its own 1-yard line with 5:23 remaining. The Scarlet Knights eventually had to punt, and Michigan State took over at the Rutgers 35.

The Spartans called a trick play at the start of that drive - a backward throwback to quarterback Rocky Lombardi, who then threw downfield. That pass was incomplete, but Lombardi ran for a 13-yard gain on third-and-10, and on the next play, White scored .

The Scarlet Knights drove into Michigan State territory, but Josiah Scott intercepted a pass at the 3-yard line with 1:32 to play.

"I laid it all on the field. We as a team tried our hardest," Rutgers quarterback Giovanni Rescigno said. "The guys gave a tremendous amount of effort and I'm so proud of the guys on the team. We tried to go out with a win. We came up a little short."

After the game, Scarlet Knights athletic director Patrick Hobbs said coach Chris Ash would return next season.

Michigan State was stopped on fourth down at its own 33 in the first quarter, and Rutgers took advantage of the field position. Rescigno threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Travis Vokolek for a 7-0 lead.

The Spartans tied it in the second quarter on an 18-yard scoring strike from Lombardi to Matt Sokol. That was all the scoring for a while.

Michigan State caught a break late in the half when a punt hit Saquan Hampton of the Scarlet Knights, and the Spartans recovered the loose ball at the Rutgers 13. But when Michigan State attempted a field goal, there appeared to be an issue with the hold, and holder Brian Lewerke eventually tried a pass that was intercepted.

Hampton intercepted a pass at the Rutgers 33 in the third quarter, then the Scarlet Knights gave the ball back on the next play. Running back Isaih Pacheco attempted a pass on a trick play, and it was picked off by Scott. Michigan State took over at the Rutgers 34, but the Spartans couldn't get a first down and ended up punting from the 35. It was that kind of day for the offenses.

"It was a battle of field position tonight, and they won it at the end," Ash said. "We had some missed opportunities, some critical penalties that obviously cost us in the game."

In the fourth, Rescigno was ruled short of the marker on a third-down run, then was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, knocking Rutgers back to the Michigan State 40. So the Scarlet Knights punted, but in doing so, they pinned the Spartans back at their own 8. After the Spartans were forced to punt the ball back, Rutgers took over at the Michigan State 25 and finally took the lead on a 34-yard field goal by Justin Davidovicz.

SCOTT'S STATUS

Scott has battled injury problems this year and appeared in just his fourth game. Players can appear in up to four games and still redshirt, so the sophomore's status for Michigan State's bowl will be interesting to watch.

"That's a family decision for him. We'll just sort of listen to his family on that," Dantonio said. "Two more years is a long time. Three more years is a long time for him. Would he go out after two more years? I don't know. So you've got to look at all those things. He's definitely going to graduate, because he came here early."

BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN

Michigan State linebacker Joe Bachie couldn't make heads or tails of what happened on the opening coin toss. The coin apparently plugged into the field on its edge - and had to be tossed again.

"It went up in the air, and about half of it went into the ground, just straight up in the air," Bachie said. "I pointed - I didn't know what was going on. We all kind of laughed out there."

THE TAKEAWAY

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights fought gamely on the road, but this was their worst record since they also went 1-11 in 2002.

Michigan State: It was about as unimpressive a win as the Spartans could have mustered, but Michigan State did snap a two-game losing streak and scored its first touchdown since Nov. 3. Lombardi started at quarterback in place of Lewerke, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury, and the offense was mostly inept.

UP NEXT

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights head into the offseason after a winless Big Ten campaign.

Michigan State: The Spartans are headed to a bowl, and maybe by the time they play in it, their injury-plagued offense will be in better shape.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister

Passing

Rut Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
G. Rescigno 17 9 52.9 1 109 27 1 68.0
I. Pacheco 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0.0
MSU Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
R. Lombardi 43 19 44.2 1 173 18 1 53.7
B. Lewerke 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0.0

Rushing

Rut Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
G. Rescigno 13 61 4.7 10 0
I. Pacheco 9 38 4.2 12 0
MSU Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
C. Heyward 19 81 4.3 26 0
C. White 1 22 22.0 22 1

Receiving

Rut Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
T. Vokolek 4 69 17.3 27 1
R. Blackshear 3 29 9.7 21 0
MSU Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
D. Stewart Jr. 7 53 7.6 11 0
C. White 4 44 11.0 15 0

Fumbles

Returning

Rut KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
I. Pacheco 2 21.0 0 23 0 0 0
A. Young 0 0 0 2 9.5 0 14
MSU KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
B. Sowards 0 0 0 2 10.5 0 14
C. Heyward 1 31.0 0 31 0 0 0

Punting

Rut Punt Yds Avg LgPu
A. Korsak 8 349 43.6 63
MSU Punt Yds Avg LgPu
W. Przystup 8 269 33.6 51

Takeaways

Rut Int Yds InTD
S. Hampton 1 0 0
T. Morris 1 31 0
MSU Int Yds InTD
J. Scott 2 12 0

Team Stats Comparison

Rut MSU
Points For 10 14
Total Yards 217 310
Rushing Yards 108 137
Passing Yards 109 173
Passing Completions / Attempts 9/18 19/44
Turnovers 3 2
Interceptions Thrown 2 2
Fumbles - Lost 1/1 0/0
First Downs 10 23
Penalties - Yards 8/76 6/69
Time Of Possession 44:44 16:16
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 4/14 8/18
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/1 0/2
Punts - Average Yards 8/44 8/34

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter Rut MSU
Rut 08:45 TD Travis Vokolek 27 yd pass from Giovanni Rescigno (Justin Davidovicz kick) 7 0
2nd Quarter Rut MSU
MSU 07:56 TD Matt Sokol 18 yd pass from Rocky Lombardi (Matt Coghlin kick) 7 7
3rd Quarter Rut MSU
No scores this quarter
4th Quarter Rut MSU
Rut 07:08 FG Justin Davidovicz 34 yd FG 10 7
MSU 11:03 TD Cody White 22 yd run (Matt Coghlin kick) 10 14

Game Information

Stadium: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
Attendance: 64,951
Game Time:
Weather: