It's been a while since MSU has tasted victory. The sweetness, though, returned on Saturday.
After three straight losses, MSU picked up its first win since Sept. 24 with a 46-14 win over Indiana at Spartan Stadium.
"I have to compliment our kids," MSU head coach John L. Smith said. "They played well, showed good character and that's what it's all about."
MSU started off the game with a bang, as junior cornerback Demond Williams took the opening kick 98 yards for a touchdown.
"That opening kickoff really set the tone," Indiana head coach Terry Hoeppner said.
Indiana cut the deficit to five points when MSU junior quarterback Drew Stanton was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, which resulted in a safety.
MSU would come right back, however, as Stanton found junior receiver Kerry Reed for a 3-yard touchdown. Stanton also pulled off the 2-point conversion.
Early in the second quarter, Stanton scored on a 1-yard plunge on fourth down and passed to sophomore tight end Kellen Davis for another 2-point play.
But Indiana would come back with a fourth down score of its own, as quarterback Blake Powers found receiver James Hardy in the corner of the end zone for the score.
The extra point was blocked by Williams, however, and scooped up and returned the distance by senior cornerback Ashton Watson for two more points for MSU. The return gave the Spartans a 25-8 lead, which they took into the half.
"It was a perfect bounce," Watson said.
MSU was not content to sit on a 32-8 lead late in the third quarter, adding two touchdowns in three plays between Indiana possessions.
Freshman running back Javon Ringer picked up 45 of his 109 yards on the day on a sprint to the end zone on the first play of an MSU drive and after forcing an Indiana punt, on which sophomore wide receiver Terry Love took a big hit on, Stanton, on the second play of the drive, found a resilient Love for a 39-yard score.
"They thought I was banged up, but I told them I was fine and they believed me," Love said.
MSU picked up 493 yards of total offense, 237 of those on the ground.
"All three of our running backs did a great job again," Stanton said. "We were able to do some damage through the air with different things they were showing us."
The big story of the day was MSU's defense, which held Indiana to 369 yards of total offense and came up with big play after big play, intercepting Powers three times and picking up a fumble.
"We played pretty good," junior linebacker David Herron, Jr. said. "We didn't give up any big plays and we got a lot of our goals."
MSU needs just one win in its last three games to become bowl eligible. They take the field again at noon, Nov. 5, at Purdue.
Matt Bishop can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu
