Pittsburgh — Through the first 15 minutes of Saturday's matchup, Pittsburgh's Tyler Palko lived up to his end of a duel between senior quarterbacks, efficiently picking apart the MSU defense to set up two early scores and a 10-0 Panthers lead.

Meanwhile, absent-minded penalties, special teams blunders and poor execution marred the Spartans' offense. Some key adjustments — and a spark — were in order.

It became clear that MSU's comeback hopes would ride not on the shoulders of Drew Stanton — and the right arm attached to them — but on the senior quarterback's legs.

Stanton leaned, dipped and whirled through Pittsburgh's defense, nullifying the mistakes that threatened to anchor the Spartans deep in their own territory. He rushed 13 times on the day, eluding defenders and breaking through arm tackles for 105 yards and one touchdown. Behind Stanton, MSU climbed out of the 10-0 hole to score on six consecutive possessions and left Heinz Field with a 38-23 victory.

"We just needed to regroup," Stanton said. "We knew we could go out there and make plays. There were plays to be made on the first couple of series. As an offense, we didn't come out and start as fast, like we wanted to. I wasn't on-target on some throws that I'd like to have back and obviously some drops that the receivers would like to have back."

Freshman kicker Brett Swenson's field goal put MSU's first points on the board, bringing the score to 10-3. Stanton was the catalyst, mixing up keepers, pitches and fakes on option plays to keep the Pittsburgh defense guessing.

The Panthers finally surrendered yardage through the air, and Stanton threw a 2-yard strike to junior tight end Kellen Davis to cap off MSU's second consecutive scoring drive and tie the game at 10-10 just before halftime.

"It just kind of evolved," Stanton said of the Spartans' dynamic game plan. "(We said,) 'Well, this is good out of this formation. We all can match up here,' and, 'In third-and-short, this is where we like our matchup.'"

But for all of Stanton's heroics in leading the offense, a special teams play by a rarely used wide receiver may have made the biggest impact.

Following Davis' touchdown reception, Pittsburgh wide receiver T.J. Porter broke free on a kick return and appeared to have a clear path to the end zone, but sophomore wide receiver Ryan Allison caught Porter by the foot for a touchdown-saving tackle.

"I had an angle on him, and then I kind of got cut off," Allison said. "Two guys cut me off, so I had to go around them and chase him from behind. I knew I had to get him right away because I was losing steam. I just dove at the last minute and got him at the right time."

The Spartans hadn't escaped the half yet. Allison's tackle prevented an immediate score, but Pittsburgh still had the ball in MSU territory with a timeout to spare. On the last play of the half, Palko threw a deep pass intended for 6-foot-1 wide receiver Derek Kinder, but senior cornerback Demond Williams — standing 5-foot-9 on his tip-toes — battled for the ball and came down with an interception on the MSU 1-yard line.

"That brought a big boost on our side and also gave their offense a little slump," Williams said. "It fired us up both on offense and defense."

The Panthers never recovered. MSU gained 185 yards in the third quarter while holding Pitt to just 25. The Spartans scored 28 unanswered points in the second half, capping off drives of 64, 75, 83 and 99 yards with touchdowns. The Panthers found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.

Stanton completed 16-of-25 pass attempts for 198 yards and two touchdowns, but he wasn't the only Spartan who had a big day on offense. Sophomore running back Javon Ringer had 156 yards on 15 carries, including a career-long 71-yard burst in the fourth quarter. Sharing carries with Ringer, junior running back Jehuu Caulcrick rushed 17 times for 64 net yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Kerry Reed caught seven passes for 103 yards and one touchdown.

Palko completed 28-of-47 pass attempts for 277 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Junior safety Nehemiah Warrick had eight tackles to lead the MSU defense.

The Spartans (3-0) host No. 12 Notre Dame (2-1) Saturday at Spartan Stadium.