Baker Leads Michigan State Over Minnesota 31-8
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Edwin Baker ran for 179 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 16 Michigan State bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 31-8 win over Minnesota on Saturday.
Baker scored twice on fourth down near the goal line to help the Spartans (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) take a 21-0 halftime lead. Minnesota (1-9, 0-6) never threatened after that en route to its ninth straight loss.
Michigan State won its first eight games before being blown out 37-6 by Iowa last weekend. Baker turned things around this week with scoring runs of 30, 1 and 1 in the first half, and another 1-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions in the Iowa loss, but didn't have to do much against the Golden Gophers. He went 9 of 20 for 131 yards with an interception, and his record-tying streak of 16 games with a touchdown pass came to an end. He shares that school record with Drew Stanton.
Cousins' deep pass over the middle was nearly intercepted early in the first quarter, but immediately after that, Baker scored his 30-yard touchdown.
Michigan State had been outscored 30-0 in the first quarter in its previous four games.
The Spartans opened up a big lead thanks to a couple aggressive decisions in the second quarter. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Baker scored on a run over the right side of the offensive line. Then, facing fourth down from the 1 again near the end of the half, Michigan State let the clock run before calling a timeout with 4 seconds left. Baker found a hole for an easy touchdown.
It was the first time in a while that Michigan State jumped out to a comfortable lead. The Spartans trailed Northwestern 17-0 before rallying to win two weeks ago, then allowed the first 37 points to Iowa.
Minnesota, which fired coach Tim Brewster last month, struggled to move the ball against the Spartans. Senior Adam Weber went 15 of 22 for 167 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his 48th consecutive start, but the Golden Gophers also let MarQueis Gray take some snaps at quarterback.
Weber holds the Big Ten record for consecutive starts by a quarterback.
Gray, who also plays wide receiver, caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Weber in the fourth quarter after an interception gave Minnesota the ball at the Michigan State 20.
Baker's final touchdown made it 31-8 with 5:24 left in the game. He nearly scored on a longer run on the previous play, but the ball was spotted at the 1 after an official review.
Baker and Le'Veon Bell have both been threats for Michigan State out of the backfield this season, but Bell carried only six times Saturday, and half of those runs were on the final possession as Michigan State was running out the clock. The Spartans snapped a three-game losing streak against Minnesota, beating the Gophers for the first time since 2004.
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