Nebraska Defeats Michigan State, 38-27

LINCOLN, Neb. – Michigan State rallied from a halftime deficit to take a 21-14 lead in the third quarter, but Nebraska came back to beat the Spartans, 38-27, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

MSU (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) held Nebraska to a season-low 261 yards of total offense, including just 67 on the ground, but the Cornhuskers (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) outscored the Spartans in the fourth quarter, 17-6, to earn the victory.

Michigan State collected a season-high five sacks on defense and had seven tackles for loss overall.

The Spartans held a significant advantage in time of possession, 33:24-26:36, but turned the ball over three times and gave up a special teams touchdown on a blocked punt that was returned for a score in the first quarter.

Junior quarterback Aidan Chiles was 9-of-23 passing for 85 yards and two interceptions, but he did have a career-high two rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Makhi Frazier led MSU on the ground with 58 yards on 18 carries, while sophomore Nick Marsh had a team-high 41 receiving yards on four catches.

Junior linebacker Jordan Hall had a team-best eight tackles, including his first career interception, while junior defensive end Jalen Thompson had five tackles and two TFLs for 20 yards, including a 10-yard sack.

SCORING SUMMARY
Nebraska opened the game's scoring with a nine-play, 48-yard touchdown drive on its first series, capped by a 2-yard run by Emmett Johnson.

The Huskers went up 14-0 after blocking a Spartan punt and returning it for a TD at the 7:37 mark in the first quarter.

Michigan State answered with a methodical 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took 9:45 off the clock. Spartan quarterback Aidan Chiles was forced out of the game with an injury late in the drive on first-and-goal, and redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic came in to throw his first collegiate TD pass, a 2-yard strike to Jack Velling in the end zone. It marked MSU's longest drive in terms of plays (17) and time of possession (9:45) this season.

The game remained 14-7 at halftime, but Michigan State tied it up at 14 on its first series of the second half, going 48 yards on 11 plays as Chiles finished the drive with a 16-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4. Chiles had three rushing first downs on the drive, which came after the Spartans stopped a fake Nebraska punt on the first series of the third quarter.

Jordan Hall's first career interception on the Huskers' second drive of the half gave MSU good field position on the Nebraska 38-yard line. The Spartans took advantage with their second TD drive of the half, and also on Chiles' second rushing TD of the game, with a 4-yard score at the 2:37 mark to give MSU its first lead of the game at 21-14.

Nebraska quickly tied the game at 21 on a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in just 1:26 as Johnson raced 23 yards into the end zone with 1:11 left in the third.

MSU fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving Nebraska the ball on the 35-yard line, but the Spartans held the Huskers to a 27-yard field goal by Kyle Cunanan.

After a Spartan three-and-out, Nebraska took a 31-21 lead on a 59-yard touchdown screen pass from Raiola to Nyziah Hunter. The Huskers stopped MSU again on the next possession, and capitalized with an 11-yard touchdown by Johnson, his third of the game, to go up, 38-21, at the 4:27 mark in the fourth quarter.

Milivojevic rushed for his first career touchdown, a 1-yard run, to finish a seven-play, 75-yard drive with 2:01 remaining. The Spartans didn't convert the 2-point conversion, however, and failed to recover the onside kick, and Nebraska ran out the clock for the victory.

UP NEXT
Michigan State hosts UCLA for Homecoming at noon in East Lansing on Saturday, Oct. 11. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

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Team Stats

Aidan Chiles

Alessio Milivojevic

Players Mentioned

Aidan Chiles

Makhi Frazier

Jordan Hall

Nick Marsh

Alessio Milivojevic

Jalen Thompson

Jack Velling