WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Connor Cook threw for three touchdowns and Jeremy Langford ran for more than 100 yards for the third straight game as No. 8 Michigan State held on for a 45-31 victory over Purdue on Saturday in front of 40,217 at Ross-Ade Stadium.
It was Michigan State’s 11th straight Big Ten victory, but it didn’t come without far more stress than expected against a Purdue team that had won only one conference game in the last two seasons.
An interception by Purdue’s Frankie Williams in the fourth quarter led to a 52-yard touchdown run by Akeem Hunt and a failed fake punt by Michigan State from its own 29 sparked an exciting finish.
The Boilermakers capitalized on the failed fake punt when Hunt scored on a three-yard run to cut the Spartans’ lead to 38-31 with 6:19 to play in the game.
Purdue then forced a Michigan State punt and took over at its 5-yar-line with 2:59 to play. The Boilermakers got a big play early in the drive, converting on a fourth down with an 11-yard strike from Austin Appleby to DeAngelo Yancey.
But the Michigan State defense stepped up and put the game away with an interception returned 15 yards for a touchdown by Darien Harris with 1:22 to play.
Cook completed 19 of 37 passes, with the one costly interception, while Langford carried 13 times for 104 yards. Tony Lippett
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had seven catches for 138 yards for the Spartans (5-1, in the 2-0 Big Ten).Hunt had 96 yards on 12 carries for the Boilermakers (3-4, 1-2) while Danny Anthrop had nine catches for 133 yards.
Michigan State got off to another quick start, but Purdue proved it wasn’t going away quietly with a late first-half surge.
The Spartans jumped to a 21-3 lead on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Lippett, a two-yard scoring run by Nick Hill and a two-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Josiah Price.
But that’s when the Boilermakers started to get things rolling.
Purdue had runs of 36 and 18 yards on its next drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Hunt to cut Michigan State’s lead to 21-10 with 9:00 left in the second quarter.
After Michael Geiger kicked a 42-yard field goal to extend Michigan State’s lead to 24-10, Purdue put together an eight-play, 72-yard drive that culminated with a nine-yard scoring pass from Appleby to B.J. Knauf.
The drive was sparked by a 30-yard pass from Appleby to Anthrop, made possible when Michigan State’sKurtis Drummond went for an interception and missed, allowing for the big gain.
The Spartans had a solid start to the second half, getting a three-and-out on defense before the offense had one of its most impressive drives of the game.
The Spartans went 77 yards on 13 plays and took 5:33 off the clock, extending their lead to 31-17 with 7:16 to play in the third quarter. A 13-yard strike from Cook to Aaron Burbridge accounted for the touchdown while Cook got a big break earlier in the drive when what looked like a sure interception was dropped by Purdue’s Williams.
After another quick defensive series, Michigan State didn’t take long to extend its lead.
The Spartans needed only three plays to get back on the board, including a 37-yard run by Hill, who capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 38-17 with 4:49 left in the third quarter.
Michigan State got another stop and had a chance to put the game away before Cook threw the interception to Williams.