Michigan State needed a win in its Friday night matchup against Purdue to snap a three-game skid and preserve hopes of playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2021. The Spartans survived a second half surge by the Boilermakers to send Purdue home the loser in a 24-17 victory for MSU.

MSU improves to 5-6 on the season and 3-5 in the Big Ten with one final matchup left against Rutgers next Saturday. A victory on Thanksgiving weekend will ensure the Spartans avoid a third-straight losing season. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers drop to 1-10 on the year and 0-8 in league play.

Quarterback Aidan Chiles finished the night 15-for-31 for 159 yards and two touchdowns while recording no interceptions for a second-straight week. He also added 26 rushing yards on eight carries with a long run of 14 yards.

Montorie Foster Jr. led the Spartan wide receivers with 59 yards on four catches and a touchdown. Kay'ron Lynch-Adams, who was second in catches with three for 18 yards, also led the rushing attack with 85 yards on 18 attempts. Nick Marsh had 25 yards on two catches and Nate Carter finished the night with 32 yards on two catches. Carter had two touchdowns on the night, one through the air and one on the ground; he also finished with 15 yards on nine carries.

On the defensive side, Ed Woods led the team in tackles (nine), solo tackles (seven), and pass breakups (two). Angelo Grose was second with six tackles, including four solo and a sack. Khris Bogle also tallied a sack along with Maverick Hansen and Alex VanSumeren each tallying 0.5 sacks apiece. Jordan Turner added an interception and Hansen a fumble recovery.

The Spartans were outpaced overall by the Boilermakers on offense, giving up 338 yards to Purdue to MSU's 293. However, MSU finished the night holding Purdue to -4 rushing yards. The Boilermakers ended the night with 55% passing, going 26-for-47 for 342 yards.

After an opening drive that saw Purdue march down the field seemingly with ease before having to settle for a field goal, everything went MSU's way after that. The Spartans scored points on all four of their possessions and held the Boilermakers scoreless for the remainder of the half.

Michigan State's first offensive drive of the game ended with a touchdown after 11 plays for 75 yards. Five plays were for at least 11 yards, though after Jack Velling converted a thrid-and-9 from Chiles for an 11-yard gain, the following play saw him injured on a hard hit by Purdue's Dillon Thieneman. Velling was carried off the field by cart and was later taken to the hospital for evaluation per an MSU spokesperson. The drive was capped off by a seven-yard pass to Foster for the touchdown and the Spartans took a 7-0 lead after Jonathan Kim had to redo the kick from Purdue 18 following a penalty on the first attempt against MSU.

After forcing a three-and-out by Purdue, MSU stalled out on its second offensive drive and settled for a 43-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-3 early in the second quarter.

The Spartans almost immediately got a chance to redo that drive as Purdue's Devin Mockobee fumbled on the second play of his team's drive with MSU's Maverick Hansen recovering it at Purdue's 33-yard line.

The Spartans punched it in eight plays later that included a would-be interception by Chiles called back due to pass interference by Tarrion Grant. The yank of Foster by Grant caused Chiles' pass to sail into Thieneman's arms, but the well called penalty by the officials allowed the Spartans to retain possession and Carter rushed to the outside to score on the final two yards. After the PAT, Michigan State held a 17-3 lead at the midway point of the second quarter.

Following the Michigan State touchdown, Purdue was able to get into the red zone on its next drive but had to settle for a field goal attempt. The kick was low and the stats credit MSU's Ru'Quan Buckley with a block that gave the Spartans the ball on its own 16-yard line. Among the highlights of the 10-play touchdown drive was a 33-yard catch by Foster that ended with the wide receiver ending up in the kicker's net on Purdue's sideline.

On the next play following Foster's net play, Carter caught a 20-yard pass for another Spartan touchdown and MSU took a 24-3 lead following Kim's successful PAT.

Purdue had just 41 seconds remaining in the half after the kick off, and the Spartans eventually forced a punt that caused time to expire. MSU headed into the locker room with a 24-3 advantage and its rush defense holding Purdue to negative-seven rushing yards.

As great as the first half went for Michigan State, the second half was a mirror image instead of the same. MSU was forced to punt it away after receiving to start the half and failing to advance past its own 37 before losing yardage. Purdue was able to capitalize and found the end zone 10 plays later for a touchdown. The PAT was good and the Boilermakers trimmed their deficit to 24-10.

After MSU was again forced to punt it away after gaining just 18 yards over five plays, the Boilermakers were able to score yet again early in the fourth quarter to cut the game to a one-score matchup, trailing 24-17 with 13:56 left.

Both teams' offenses stalled from there, with Michigan State's Jordan Turner managing to pick off Hudson Card with 9:01 left in the game at the MSU 31. The Spartans' offense was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt it away from its own 47 just six plays later with 5:57 remaining as the Boilermakers took over.

Purdue was held to its own territory on its drive, being forced to go for it on fourth-and-6 from its own 47 with 3:08 remaining. The Spartan defense held firm and forced a turnover on downs that would end the game thanks to MSU's offense managing to move the chains twice. Initially, the Spartans advanced to a fresh set of downs thanks to a holding penalty against Purdue's Nyland Green on the opening play of the drive, and then managed to convert on a fourth-and-1 keeper by Chiles. With just 1:28 remaining and Purdue out of enough timeouts to prevent the clock from expiring, MSU kneeled it for the victory.

Michigan State will mark senior day next Saturday, Nov. 30 against Rutgers with kick off slated for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on FS1. MSU will be looking for bowl eligibility against RU who sits at 6-4 heading into a matchup against Illinois in Week 13.

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