Michigan State Scores Late and Hangs on to Beat Nebraska, 20-17

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Montorie Foster Jr. early in the fourth quarter and Michigan State held on to beat Nebraska, 20-17, on Senior Day at Spartan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Katin Houser, who started his fourth straight game, completed 13-of-20 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown, while Foster caught four passes for 94 yards and one score and Jonathan Kim kicked a pair of field goals (35 and 50 yards). Leavitt, who played two series in the game, also had a 7-yard run for a first down on his touchdown series in the fourth quarter; he finished 1-of-2 passing for 25 yards.

Defensively, Michigan State forced three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble) and tied a season high with seven sacks and had 12 tackles for loss.

"Very happy for our guys," said MSU interim head coach Harlon Barnett, who won his first career game as a head coach. "All we talked about was finish, finish, finish, and that's what they did. We finally finished one and got a victory, really happy for our players, awesome feeling in the locker and we love to have that."

Sophomore safety Jaden Mangham led the Spartans with seven tackles, including one for loss, one pass breakup and his team-leading fourth interception of the year. Sixth-year senior linebacker Aaron Brule also had seven tackles, including one for loss and a sack. Sophomore cornerback Dillon Tatum added six tackles, including two for loss and a pair of pass breakups, redshirt junior linebacker Cal Haladay had six tackles and a fumble recovery, and freshman linebacker Jordan Hall had six tackles and one pass breakup. Making his first career start, freshman defensive end Jalen Thompson had five tackles, with two sacks, one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry.

SCORING SUMMARY

Michigan State took an early 3-0 lead after driving 71 yards on eight plays on its opening possession, keyed by a 46-yard completion from Houser to Jaylan Franklin. Kim finished off the drive with a 35-yard field goal.

On its third series, Nebraska took a 7-3 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Heinrich Haarberg that capped a 10-play, 59-yard drive at the 12:40 mark in the second quarter.

The Spartans answered right back on their next series, driving 75 yards on just six plays, to regain the lead, 10-7. On a trick play, wide receiver Alante Brown caught a lateral and threw a 42-yard pass to Foster that put MSU in the red zone, and Houser then delivered an 11-yard touchdown to Christian Fitzpatrick for his first career score as a Spartan.

Nebraska tied the game at 10 right before halftime on a 24-yard field goal by Tristan Alvano.

After forcing a Husker punt to start the third quarter, the Spartans scored on their first series of the second half as Kim kicked a 50-yard field goal with 5:11 left in the third quarter, putting MSU back on top, 13-10.

On their first series of the fourth quarter, the Spartans added to their lead on Leavitt's 25-yard touchdown pass to Foster to make it 20-10 in favor of MSU with 12:13 left in the game.

Nebraska cut into the MSU lead late in the fourth quarter, with a 43-yard run from Haarberg setting up a 4-yard touchdown run by Emmett Johnson with 3:35 left in the game.

After the Spartans punted, Nebraska started a drive on its own 22-yard line with 2:32 to play. Haarberg was sacked by Thompson and a fumble was recovered by Haladay, but Kim missed a 44-yard field goal.

Nebraska had one last chance, getting the ball back with 43 seconds left on the clock with no timeouts on its own 27-yard line, but the Spartan defense forced a sack on the third play of the series for an 18-yard loss, and the Huskers' last pass fell incomplete on the final play of the game.

Michigan State returns to action next Saturday, Nov. 11 at No. 1 Ohio State. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on NBC.

Michigan State Scores Late and Hangs on to Beat Nebraska, 20-17

Next Event

Team Stats

Katin Houser

Alante Brown

Sam Leavitt

Montorie Foster Jr.

Players Mentioned

Christian Fitzpatrick

Cal Haladay

Jordan Hall