Spartans fly over Hoosiers in 31-3 air attack

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- In the second quarter of Saturday's IU-Michigan State game, MSU senior quarterback Jeff Smoker threw a pass that bounced off of the receiver's chest and straight into the air. \nSurrounded by four Hoosier defenders, the ball went high into the air and fell back into MSU receiver Matt Trannon's hands harmlessly. That's the way the game, a 31-3 loss, went for IU.\n"We didn't play very well," IU coach Gerry DiNardo said. "We took a step backwards. I was disappointed in our play, especially in the second half." \nMichigan State broke into the scoring column early, scoring on its first possession in an eight-play, 60-yard drive. On a third and 10 play at the IU 13-yard line, Smoker hit junior tight end Jason Randall at the 9-yard line. Randall barreled through three Hoosier defenders, picking up MSU's first touchdown.\nIU punted on each of its next two possessions before MSU struck again. Keyed by the bouncing catch by Trannon, Smoker hit running back Jarvis Hayes on the next play for the 31-yard touchdown and the 14-0 lead. \nIU then answered with its only score of the game. Freshman running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis caught a 20-yard screen pass to start the drive and rushed six times for 21 yards. The drive stalled at the 2-yard line and, after a timeout, IU decided to kick the field goal rather than go for the touchdown.\n"The first half, we moved the ball," junior quarterback Matt LoVecchio said. "We're just breaking down offensively ... We moved the ball, and then just stalled."\nMSU added a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter and a touchdown after an IU fumble deep in MSU territory by sophomore running back Chris Taylor. The Spartans marched downfield with better fortune than the Hoosiers. MSU fumbled twice in a row but recovered both before tailback Jason Teague broke through the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run.\n"That fumble late in the game, that really hurt us, it felt like I lost the whole game for us," Taylor said. "I just have to learn how to bounce back from adversity like that."\nMSU had one more touchdown with a 2-yard run from Smoker to close out the scoring, 31-3.\nPlaying without senior captain running back Brian Lewis and facing a run defense that allowed only 54.4 yards per game did not slow down the IU running game as Taylor and Green-Ellis ran for a combined 144 yards. Prior to Saturday's contest, MSU had allowed 107 yards, a season high, in its previous game against Iowa. After the game, Taylor accredited the ground game to good protection from the offensive line.\n"We wanted to emphasize on the run," Taylor said. "The linemen, they opened up the holes pretty good, and we just ran through them."\nDefensively, IU also showed its strength on the ground, as the Hoosiers allowed only 12 yards on 11 carries in the first half and 39 yards after three quarters. \n"We did very well stopping the run, then they went to the pass, and we've got to stop that too," junior linebacker Josh Moore said. "The game of football is a game of strategy. Today they strategized very well, and I feel that as soon as we stopped the run, they went to the pass and they were pretty effective."\nUnfortunately for the Hoosiers, Michigan State's air attack was quite effective as Smoker finished with 32 of 40 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns. Smoker's outing tied him with an MSU record for completions set in 1982 by John Leister and the yardage also tied him for the seventh single game total in school history with his own season high in the Sept. 6 game against Rutgers.\n"(Smoker's play was) impressive, but he could do that every game," MSU wide receiver Kyle Brown said. "He's just got to go out and play; he could complete 40 out of 40 passes."\nLoVecchio said he was proud of the IU receivers but thought they still needed work.\n"Courtney fought through and played today," he said. "Glenn came in and did a good job. But the bottom line is we lost the football game and need to get back to work."\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatic@indiana.edu.