Spartans can't take advantage of early takeaways, fall to Minnesota on road

Michigan State football (now 2-6, 0-5 in Big Ten play) suffered its sixth-straight defeat after traveling to Minnesota (5-3, 3-2 in conference play) on Saturday and coming away with a 27-12 loss.

Despite winning the turnover battle and the defense putting the MSU offense in good positions early on, the offense failed to take full advantage, while the Golden Gophers found their footing in the game to eventually take control.

On Minnesota's first drive, Michigan State's defense wasted no time in making an impact on the game when defensive tackle Derrick Harmon put a textbook hit on running back Sean Tyler, forcing him to fumble. The ball was recovered by safety Jaden Mangham at the Gophers' 26-yard line.

Despite being set up in great field position, the MSU offense could not take advantage and was held to a Jonathan Kim field goal from 38 yards out to give the Spartans the early edge.

The very next series, the Spartans' defense would come up with another takeaway when linebacker Jordan Hall sacked Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and forced another fumble that was recovered by defensive end Avery Dunn in the opposition's territory again, this time at the 33-yard line.

But after failing to convert on third-and-1 on a drop from wide receiver Tre Mosley from quarterback Katin Houser, the Spartans would have to settle for another field goal from Kim to make it 6-0 Michigan State.

While the MSU offense sputtered, the Gophers put together a promising drive and took the ball down to the Spartans' 17-yard line early in the second quarter, highlighted by a 31-yard reception from wide receiver Daniel Jackson.

But when the drive stalled, Minnesota had to settle for a field goal attempt that was blocked by defensive tackle Simeon Barrow Jr., who just re-joined the team after withdrawing his name from the transfer portal, to hold the Spartans' lead at 6-0 with 9:58 until halftime.

The Gophers' defense stifled the MSU offense the entire first half and got the ball back time and time again for their offense, and finally, Minnesota was able to get on the scoreboard with 4:54 left in the second quarter when kicker Dragan Kesich knocked home a 25-yard field goal after an eight-play, 53-yard drive to make the score 6-3.

After dominating on the stat sheet for the first half, Minnesota finally had that pay off when the offense put up the first touchdown of the game with 26 seconds left in the half when Kaliakmanis found Jackson over the middle for a 22-yard score to give the Gophers their first lead of the game at 10-6, which was the score going into the locker room.

At halftime, Minnesota had outgained MSU 245-80 in total yards, but the opportunistic MSU defense and the special teams play by Barrow kept the Spartans within striking distance.

In the third quarter, Michigan State's offense was finally able to put together a solid drive when it drove the ball to the Minnesota 36-yard line on a possession that lasted nearly five minutes, but ended in a missed field goal by Kim from 53 yards out with 7:48 left in the quarter to keep the score 10-6. The drive included a couple of nice connections from Houser to wide receivers Montorie Foster Jr. and Mosley, and a nice 18-yard run by running back Nate Carter.

Minnesota took over from there and again drove the ball into MSU territory, but the Spartans' defense came up with yet another turnover when safety Jaden Mangham jumped a Kaliakmanis pass down the right sideline for the third takeaway of the game from the MSU defense.

The MSU offense looked like it might have something brewing after the turnover after a 30-yard completion from Houser to Mosley, but the drive stalled at midfield as Ryan Eckley had to punt the ball away again as the score remained 10-6 after 45 minutes of play.

With 12:07 left in the fourth quarter, Minnesota running back Jordan Nubin took an outside zone play off right tackle and found the end zone from 18 yards out to give the Gophers a 17-6 lead.

Later in the fourth quarter, interim head coach Harlon Barnett made a change at quarterback for the Spartans when he went to freshman Sam Leavitt in attempt to spark the offense.

The move paid off, as Leavitt led an eight-play, 75-yard drive that took just 3:30 off the clock, as he threaded the needle on a pass to wide receiver Tyrell Henry in the end zone over the middle to cut the deficit to 17-12 with 8:37 to play after a failed two-point attempt.

On the drive, Leavitt was 4-for-4 through the air and ran the ball four times for 34 yards to lead MSU to its first touchdown in over eight quarters of play.

MSU tried to feed off that momentum on the ensuing kickoff when Barnett rolled the dice and called an onside kick with just under nine minutes left, but it didn't pay off as Minnesota recovered the ball at the MSU 46-yard line despite a big hit on the play.

Minnesota was then able to take full advantage of the field position, as Kaliakmanis came up with a big third-down run to keep the Gophers' drive alive before Nubin powered the ball in from the 2-yard line for his second score of the game to make the score 24-12 Gophers with 4:11 to play on what proved to be the knockout blow for the Spartans.

With 3:55 remaining, and the Spartans being left no choice but to drop back to pass each play being down late in the game, Minnesota defensive lineman Jah Joyner came flying off the edge and hit Leavitt from his blindside and forced a fumble to create the Gophers' first takeaway of the game deep in MSU territory.

Kesich would add a field goal for Minnesota to make it 27-12, which would be the final score.

For Michigan State, Houser finished 12-of-22 passing for 117 yards, while Leavitt was 8-of-12 for 73 yards and an interception to go along with his touchdown pass.

Foster led the MSU receiving corps with 34 yards, while Leavitt was the team's leading rusher with 52 yards on six carries.

On defense, linebacker Cal Haladay recorded 11 total tackles for MSU, while nickel back Angelo Grose had 10 tackles.

For Minnesota, Kaliakmanis was 14-of-22 for 200 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Jackson led the way for the Gophers in receiving with 120 yards to go along with his touchdown.

Nubin, who had 15 career carries coming in, carried the ball 40 times for 204 yards to pair with his two scores.

Linebacker Devon Willaims led the Gopher defense with nine tackles.

The Golden Gophers outgained the Spartans 400-299 for the contest and ran 72 plays to MSU's 55, while winning the time of possession battle 36:08-23:52.

Michigan State will return home next Saturday to take on Nebraska (5-3) for a noon kickoff on Fox Sports 1.

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