No. 9 Michigan St. Loses 24-3 At No. 13 Nebraska
ERIC OLSON,AP Sports Writer
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — That fantastic finish against Wisconsin sure seems like a long time ago to Michigan State.
The ninth-ranked Spartans had a chance to build an almost insurmountable lead in the Big Ten Legends Division on Saturday against No. 13 Nebraska, but the Spartans' road demons cropped up again in a 24-3 loss.
"What a difference a week makes," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said.
The Spartans were held to 187 total yards and quarterback Kirk Cousins couldn't get anything going in the passing game against Nebraska's swarming defense.
After throwing for 290 yards and three TDs at home in last week's crazy 37-31 win over Wisconsin last week, Cousins missed on 12 of his first 16 passes and finished 11 of 27 for 86 yards. He was sacked for times.
Cousins was intercepted on the Spartans' first possession, was nearly picked off three other times and often threw into double coverage.
"We're a much better team than we showed today and we still have a lot of things in front of us to accomplish," Cousins said. "It's important to push on and understand that so much of what happens to us this season is not what happened to us but how we respond. It's important that we respond the right way."
The Cornhuskers (7-1, 3-1) moved into a tie with Michigan State (6-2, 3-1) and Michigan for the Big Ten Legends Division lead. Iowa also would have a share of the lead with a win over Minnesota. The Huskers own the tiebreaker with Michigan State and are yet to play Michigan and Iowa.
Michigan State running back Le'Veon Bell said he and his teammates won't use the emotional hangover of last week's win as an excuse.
"I don't think that affected us today," he said. "We just didn't execute the way we should have today. Especially in an environment like that, playing on the road, you've got to execute a lot better than we did today."
The road hasn't been kind to the Spartans. They were hammered at Iowa a year ago for their only Big Ten loss and again by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl. This year they were drilled 31-13 at Notre Dame and scraped by in a 10-7 win at Ohio State.
Rex Burkhead scored three touchdowns and ran 35 times for 130 yards as Nebraska won for only the second time in 17 games against a top-10 opponent.
Burkhead, who went over 100 yards for the fifth time in six games, scored at the end of 80- and 89-yard drives in the third quarter that broke open a 10-3 game and seemed to break the Spartans' spirit.
Nebraska's Taylor Martinez completed only a shovel pass for no yards in the first half and was intercepted on a poorly thrown ball, but offensive coordinator Tim Beck called on him to throw anyway.
He went 4 for 4 on the first series of the second half and completed third-down passes to Tim Marlowe and Brandon Kinnie before Burkhead scored from a yard out to make it a two-touchdown lead.
Officials initially ruled Burkhead lost a fumble at the goal line, but the video review showed that the ball crossed the goal line.
After another defensive stop by Nebraska, Martinez led the Huskers on a 12-play series that lasted 5:24 and essentially wrapped up the game. Burkhead carried on eight of the first nine plays and then, two plays after limping off the field with a leg cramp, caught a 27-yard TD pass.
Burkhead led a rushing attack that finished with 190 yards against a defense that had been allowing 88.9 a game.
"You could tell they were getting winded," Burkhead said, "and our guys were getting to them up front. Things were opening up quicker and easier. The no-huddle tempo wore them down a little bit."
Cousins, who last week became the winningest quarterback in MSU history, struggled from the start.
"There were plays where there was nothing there, no matter how long the protection lasted," he said. "There were plays where protection broke down where I had something. There were plays where it was a combination. It was a total mix."
Lance Thorrell stepped in front of Cousins' pass for B.J. Cunningham and returned it 26 yards to set up the Huskers at the Spartans' 25. Burkhead scored from the 1 seven plays later.
Cousins couldn't get the Spartans into the end zone after Johnny Adams intercepted Martinez and ran it back to the Nebraska 28. A defensive holding call put the ball inside the 10, but Cousins' end-zone pass to Cunningham was too hot to handle and then Nebraska safety Daimion Stafford dropped a bad throw that could have been run back for a touchdown.
The good news for the Spartans is that their schedule becomes much easier the rest of the way. They play Minnesota at home next, go to Iowa, host Indiana and finish at Northwestern.
"This is about the long haul, it's not about one football game," Dantonio said. "All of our goals stay in front of us. We have to play through the sechedule."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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