On MSU’s first offensive drive of the game, sophomore quarterback Connor Cook put his accuracy on display, completing two passes of 15 yards or more, including a nifty one-handed grab for a gain of 24 yards along the sidelines by senior wide receiver Tony Lippett.

Junior running back Jeremy Langford capped a seven play, 80-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to give the Spartans the lead.

Langford now has 16 rushing touchdowns this season – four more than former Spartan running back Le’Veon Bell had during the 2012 season.

The Golden Gophers opened up the next drive looking to chip away at the Spartan defense with a mixture of run and passing plays led by quarterback Philip Nelson. But on the first pass of the drive beyond 10 yards, sophomore cornerback Trae Waynes picked off Nelson to end the threat.

Waynes’ interception is the first of his MSU career — and his first of two in the half — setting up an offensive drive that eventually stalled for the Spartans five plays later.

On their most successful drive of the half, the Golden Gophers orchestrated a 14-play, 60-yard effort ending in a 21-yard field goal by kicker Chris Hawthorne. However, Minnesota just nearly missed scoring a touchdown due to sophomore defensive tackle Mark Scarpinato, who knocked down a third-down pass to halt any opportunity to find the end zone.

Waynes picked off another pass near the end of the second quarter, but MSU couldn’t capitalize as Cook threw an interception of his own two plays into the ensuing drive.

The Spartans will receive the ball to open the second half.