STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Jeremy Langford rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns and R.J. Shelton returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown as No. 10 Michigan State beat Penn State, 34-10, on Saturday.
Quarterback Connor Cook also passed for a score for the Spartans (10-2), who won their third straight game.
Tailback Akeel Lynch scored the only touchdown for Penn State (6-6), which lost its second straight, on a three-yard run. The Lions managed only 233 yards, 38 on the ground.
Langford, who carried 30 times, surpassed 100 yards for the ninth consecutive game. He scored on a three-yard run in the third quarter and a six-yarder late in the game, giving him 19 touchdowns this season.
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Cook, who completed 13-of-25 passes for 180 yards, hit wide receiver Tony Lippett for a 10-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Cook also had two passes intercepted.
Shelton grabbed Sam Ficken‘s bouncing kickoff at the Michigan State 10-yard-line, started left, shrugged off Ficken’s tackle attempt at the 27 and continued down the left sideline to complete the 90-yard scoring play.
Michael Geiger added 36- and 39-yard field goals later in the first quarter, making it 13-0.
Ficken nailed a 41-yarder with 4:34 left in the half for the Lions.
Defensive tackle Anthony Zettel of Penn State intercepted Cook’s pass with 45 seconds left in the second quarter and returned the ball to the Michigan State 36, but five plays later Hackenberg saw his pass into the end zone glance off the hands of wide receiver Chris Godwin and into the arms of cornerback Trae Waynes.
Langford capped a seven-play, 63-yard drive on the Spartans’ first possession of the third quarter with his score.
The drive included two completions by Cook, a 25-yarder to Keith Mumphrey on third-and-eight from the Michigan State 39, and a 31-yarder to Macgarrett Kings Jr. on the very next snap. Langford scored three plays later.
Defensive end Marcus Rush sacked Hackenberg on the Lions’ next offensive play and forced a fumble that was recovered by Spartans linebacker Taiwan Jones.
Cook found Tony Lippett for a 10-yard score four plays later, giving Michigan State a 27-3 lead.
The Lions then went 79 yards in 10 plays, the last Lynch’s three-yard scoring run.