No. 10 MSU (8-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) got knocked down against No. 7 Ohio State (9-1 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) when they lost 49-37 Nov. 8 .
The question going into a game against Maryland (6-4 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) was: can MSU respond after being beaten?
They did, in a big way. With the help of senior running back Jeremy Langford and four turnovers, MSU welcomed Maryland to the Big Ten with a 37-15 win.
It was the first time MSU had played UMD since 1950 and the first time the Spartans went to College Park since 1944.
Langford got off to a slow start, but picked up momentum in the second half and was able to surpass 100 yards on the game once again. He finished with 25 carries and 135 yards to complement his two touchdowns.
The defense was able to respond after giving up 49 points and 568 yards of offense against Ohio State to only giving up 252 yards and 15 points to the Terrapins.
“You have to gain something from everything,” head coach Mark Dantonio said before the game. “You have to understand, OK, these things didn’t work, these did. How did we respond?”
Junior quarterback Connor Cook didn’t have his best game, going only 14-31 for 240 yards . He did not record a touchdown or interception.
The game was close in the second quarter, when graduate student quarterback C.J. Brown found junior wide receiver Daniel Adams for a 20-yard touchdown to make the score 9-7 . After that MSU took the game over.
Langford found the end zone later in the quarter to make it 16-7, but it was the interception for the touchdown recorded by junior safety RJ Williamson to make it 23-7 that blew the game wide open. Both teams would add touchdowns but the pick six for Williamson solidified that the Spartans had arrived.
“I think it’s always the same challenge really,” Dantonio said before the game. “That’s why I think you have to coach everything, not just the Xs and Os. You have to coach everything. You have to coach attitude. You have to coach leadership. You have to coach sacrifice, everything.”
MSU’s next game will be against another Big Ten newcomer, Rutgers (6-4 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) . The game will be at Spartan Stadium and has been announced as a noon kickoff.
