Indiana Falls to No. 7 Michigan State

Saturday, October 24

East Lansing, Mich.

3:30 p.m.

Indiana University

4-4 , 0-4

Michigan State

8-0 , 4-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Indiana

Michigan State

10/24/2015 7:37:00 PM | Football

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - For three quarters, Indiana battled with No. 7 Michigan State. The scoreboard, which read 52-26 in favor of the Spartans, didn't necessarily indicate just how close the game was.

But being close doesn't mean much to Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson or his players. A loss is a loss, and 24 unanswered points by Michigan State to end the game was enough to hand the Hoosiers a fourth consecutive defeat.

"It was a decent game for a while," Wilson said. "Our guys played really hard and had a few big plays. At the end we kind of just let it get away, which was pretty disappointing."

Heading into the fourth quarter, Indiana (4-4, 0-4) trailed Michigan State (8-0, 4-0) by just two points, 28-26. The Spartans' first drive of the final quarter resulted in a field goal, putting Michigan State up 31-26 with 12:44 left to play.

In that time, Indiana was outscored 21-0. The Hoosiers weren't able to get the ball moving offensively enough to score and allowed all three Spartans touchdowns to build their deciding lead in the final three minutes of play.

Indiana was close. But close stings.

"It's frustrating because 'close' has been our word for what seems like the last two years," senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld said. "We have to make those plays to get over that hump. That word 'close' is really driving me nuts nowadays, but it's what we are."

Indiana didn't show any signs of letdown stemming from last week's Homecoming loss to Rutgers, which left players frustrated after the fact. The Hoosiers jumped ahead 7-0 early with a 5-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Jordan Howard, who started in his first return to the field since injuring his ankle against Ohio State three weeks ago.

But Michigan State began to grind Indiana as the game went on. The Spartans nearly doubled the time of possession, forcing the Indiana defense to stay on the field while also keeping offensive weapons like Sudfeld and Howard off of it.

Wilson blamed part of Michigan State's late surge on Indiana's own fatigue, especially with its young defensive players. The upcoming bye week may allow the Hoosiers a chance to catch their breath, but there was no resting against the Spartans.

"I just feel like we need to step up and make our plays," junior linebacker TJ Simmons said. He led Indiana with 15 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

"It doesn't matter what wall (young players) hit," Simmons continued. "It's inexcusable. We've got to step up and make plays."

For the better part of three quarters, Indiana was making the plays it needed, especially offensively against a Michigan State program that's consistently ranked among the best defenses in the conference.

Sudfeld finished 23-of-37 passing for 308 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Andrew Booker, redshirt junior Ricky Jones and sophomore Simmie Cobbs were each on the receiving end of Sudfeld's touchdowns.

Cobbs' 37 yard score just before halftime to cap a four-play, 77 yard drive pulled Indiana within one point, 21-20. It was the closest IU would get to retaking the lead before the Spartans pulled away in the second half.

Michigan State senior quarterback Connor Cook threw for 398 yards and four touchdowns. He was key in helping the Spartans complete 13 of their 20 third-down attempts to keep drives alive and Indiana's defense at work.

Unfortunately for Indiana, Saturday's result reflects perhaps the Hoosiers' biggest problem they haven't yet been able to solve. Too often, close games have gone the opponents' way. It happened against No. 1 Ohio State three weeks ago, it happened against Rutgers last week and it happened again against Michigan State.

It's a fixable problem, Wilson said. But it needs to be fixed soon.

"Our defense wears down because we don't get stops," Wilson said. "I don't like moral victories, but it shows we're going toe-to-toe with some pretty good teams. I'm not into moral victories and I'm not trying to justify anything because we need to win. That's what we talked about after the game. We need to learn to close games."