Football Results: Oct. 27
MICHIGAN STATE 23, PURDUE 13
Rocky Lombardi made his first start at quarterback for Michigan State, and the Spartans didn’t hold back.
Lombardi threw for 318 yards and two touchdowns, and the Spartans halted Purdue’s four-game win streak, beating the Boilermakers 23-13 on Saturday. With Brian Lewerke out with a shoulder injury, Lombardi guided the offense, and the redshirt freshman attempted 46 passes.
“Forty-six attempts is a lot,” Lombardi said. “I’m happy that I got that many attempts and got to show what I did.”
Matt Coghlin kicked three field goals, and the Spartans (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) held on defensively toward the end. Michigan State’s Mike Panasiuk blocked a field goal with 3:42 remaining, and Jalen Nailor broke free for a 48-yard touchdown reception to put the Spartans up 23-13 with 1:58 to play.
David Blough threw for 277 yards for Purdue, but he was intercepted three times, including once while the Boilermakers (4-4, 3-2) were in field goal range in the fourth quarter.
Michigan State has won eight straight games in this series.
“They executed better than us. I thought they played harder than us and I thought they made fewer mistakes,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. “It’s a good learning experience for our team. That’s why we say it’s a one-game season. We did not get ready to play this game, come out and do the things necessary in order to win.”
Purdue was coming off a 49-20 win over Ohio State, but the Boilermakers missed too many opportunities against the Spartans. On fourth-and-3 from the Michigan State 44 in the final quarter, Blough completed a pass to Rondale Moore, who was tackled short of the line to gain.
Later, Blough threw to Brycen Hopkins near the Michigan State 20, but Hopkins took a hard hit from Tyriq Thompson of the Spartans and lost the ball. Thompson grabbed it before it hit the ground for an interception with 10:02 to play.
Spencer Evans had a chance to tie it with a 41-yard kick, but Panasiuk got a piece of it.
“It was a very winnable game,” Blough said. “It was a close game all the way throughout and they were banged up. It feels bad because I didn’t play very well and didn’t do enough to help my team win.”
Lombardi’s first touchdown pass came with 56 seconds left in the first half — an 11-yarder to Darrell Stewart. The Spartans led 16-6 before Terry Wright’s 1-yard scoring run late in the third brought Purdue within three.
The Boilermakers were shut down for much of the first three quarters, but they certainly had their chances late. Their inability to come away with points in the fourth quarter on repeated trips into Michigan State territory made this loss a frustrating one.
The Spartans were coming off an emotional loss to rival Michigan, and their offense had its ups and downs with the backup quarterback in the game. But Michigan State remains a solid defensive team, and the Spartans were able to prevent Moore (11 catches for 74 yards) from breaking free for too many big plays.
“People took notice today,” coach Mark Dantonio said. “People all across the country took notice that the Spartans got up and played — against a good football team that just had a huge win last week.”
NOTRE DAME 44, NAVY 22
Ian Book threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns, Dexter Williams ran for 142 yards and three scores and No. 3 Notre Dame overwhelmed Navy 44-22 on Saturday night to remain undefeated and in the playoff picture.
JaFar Armstrong added a rushing touchdown for the Fighting Irish. They are 8-0 for the first time since 2012, when they remained undefeated until being routed by Alabama in the BCS national title game.
Notre Dame had 584 yards of total offense as it extended its dominance in the oldest continual intersectional rivalry to 78-13-1.
Playing in San Diego for the first time, Notre Dame used its superior size and talent to take a 27-0 lead just before halftime. While the defense kept Navy’s triple option in check, Book was remarkably efficient as he kept the Midshipmen off-balance with lots of play-action. He completed 27 of 33 passes, to 10 receivers. He threw one interception.
Book, from El Dorado Hills near Sacramento, improved to 5-0 since replacing Brandon Wimbush as the starter. Book threw touchdown passes of 4 and 22 yards to top receiver Miles Boykin in the second half.
Navy (2-6), which lost its fifth straight, finally broke through when Zach Abey had two 1-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter. Book was intercepted early in the fourth quarter, setting up a 33-yard touchdown run by Mike Martin.
The Fighting Irish got off to an inauspicious start when Boykin fumbled at the end of a 12-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. Navy failed to capitalize, and Notre Dame scored on four of its next five possessions. Armstrong had a 1-yard scoring run, and Williams then had touchdown runs of 12, 9 and 2 yards. Williams carried 23 times.
Navy came in third in the nation with 309.4 yards rushing per game and had 292 against Notre Dame. Malcolm Perry had 133 yards on 12 carries.
After rallying to beat Pitt and save their season, the Fighting Irish had a week off to prepare for Navy’s triple option. It showed, as the Midshipmen weren’t able to get anything going until the second half, when they were way behind.
The Midshipmen dropped to 3-5 in San Diego. This was the first time they played an opponent of Notre Dame’s caliber here. The Midshipmen were 1-0 in the Holiday Bowl, 2-2 in the now-defunct Poinsettia Bowl and 0-2 against San Diego State.