MSU went on to harass Gardner throughout the game, sacking him seven times and intercepting him once. He was on the bench for U-M’s final drive, “beat up,” as head coach Brady Hoke termed it afterward.

Terry, a similar 6-foot-4 to Gardner, received praise from teammates and head coach Mark Dantonio following the 29-6 win for his efforts mimicking the Wolverine quarterback.

“Glad me getting beat up on all week paid off! On to Nebraska after the much needed bye week! #5-0” Terry tweeted seven days later.

Dantonio mentioned Terry’s playmaking on the scout team was a reminder of why the true freshman was involved in MSU’s quarterback race at one point.

“(Terry) made us miss, ran the ball down the field on occasion. He did an outstanding job,” Dantonio said Sunday. “He’s going to be an outstanding quarterback for us. He’s 230 pounds, 6-(foot)-4, that can run and move. We’ve said that before. … So he has talent.”

Gerald Holmes, a true freshman, and redshirt freshman Nick Tompkins spent time emulating U-M running backs, while another true freshman, 6-5 Demetrius Cooper, acted as tight end Devin Funchess. Dantonio has compared Cooper to former Spartan great Julian Peterson more than once.

Dantonio identified the previously mentioned true freshmen, along with linebackers Jon Reschke and Shane Jones and cornerback Jalyn Powell as standout first-year players in practice.

Max-out

It wasn’t sophomore quarterback Connor Cook — who threw for 252 yards and one touchdown and ran for another — who took the final snap in the U-M rout. That was Andrew Maxwell, and it was Dantonio’s way of honoring the senior.

Maxwell led MSU into the Big House last season as the starter when the Spartans lost a tight 12-10 game on a last-second field goal. Since Cook took control of the job, Maxwell was last seen abruptly thrusted into the final possession of the Notre Dame game and engineered one late drive in the blowout of Illinois.

“Yeah, I wanted to do that — Andrew Maxwell’s been an extremely unselfish young man,” Dantonio said. “So I thought it was important that he take a snap and celebrate in this victory in that capacity. I wanted to do that, you know, so we did it.”

“Andrew’s been great to me,” Cook added. “It just felt good to see him go out there and take a knee as a senior.”

London Calling

Madre London, a running back from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., became MSU’s 17th verbal commitment in the class of 2014 on Monday, choosing the Spartans over Illinois, Wisconsin and Nebraska on a Fox Sports Florida broadcast.

London, who is 6-1 and 202 pounds, is rated a three-star prospect and the No. 49 player at his position by Rivals.com. He becomes the second running back in the class, joining Gerald Owens, a bruising 6-1, 266-pounder from Westville, N.J.

In an interview with Fox Sports South, London said he is proud to be part of the program, mentioning the coaching staff and how “they put a whooping on Michigan.”