Brass-kicking

Freshman defensive end Jammie Kirlew never had so much fun spitting. \nAfter IU's 46-21 win Saturday against Michigan State, Kirlew and his teammates celebrated by passing around the Old Brass Spittoon -- the trophy that has been awarded to the winner between IU and Michigan State since 1950. \n"It's a spittoon, so of course we spit into it. Everybody got a chance to get a little spit in there," Kirlew said. "It was a great feeling. It was just great getting it back." \nThe offense might have provided the fireworks in Saturday's victory, but the stingy IU defense had reason to celebrate as well.\nOn the opening drive, Michigan State had its way with the defense. Spartan quarterback Drew Stanton picked apart the IU secondary, completing five passes, including a 38-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Devin Thomas. \nBut that would be the last time Michigan State gained a first down until early in the fourth quarter. \nMichigan State went three-and-out for 11 straight drives, a span of 44 minutes and 47 seconds. The Spartans did not score again until most of the IU starters were taken out and backup junior running back Brett Kahn punched it into the end zone early in the fourth quarter. \nRather than blitzing heavily to pressure the Spartan backfield, which was key in the Hoosiers' victory over Illinois two weeks ago, the defensive line was able to get to Stanton and stop the run without a lot of help from the linebackers and secondary.\n"If you can get pressure without having to commit to blitz and play zero coverage, that's good and is a credit to our front four," IU coach Terry Hoeppner said. "That's what our defense is supposed to look like." \nThe IU offense also benefited from the job the defense was doing. The Hoosiers forced two Michigan State turnovers, and one led directly to an IU touchdown. \nJunior middle linebacker Adam McClurg forced Michigan State running back Jehuu Caulcrick to fumble just before the end of the first half, leading to a second Hoosier touchdown in less than a minute. \nFreshman quarterback Kellen Lewis connected with sophomore wide receiver James Hardy on both of the scores. \nIU led 30-7 at halftime, but the defense did not want to let up. Last week against Northwestern, the Spartans were down by 35 and came back to win 41-38.\n"We saw them come back last game, make a great comeback," McClurg said. "It was just one of those things where we didn't want that to happen to us. We wanted to get out there and do the same things we did in the first half."\nThe second forced Michigan State turnover came when senior safety Will Meyers intercepted Stanton to cut a drive short late in the third quarter with IU leading 44-7.\nLate in the game, Michigan State scored twice, once on a rush by Kahn and then on a 13-yard pass from backup quarterback Brian Hoyer to Kahn late in the fourth quarter.\nWith the victory, the Hoosiers improved to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten and will head to Minnesota on Saturday to take on the Golden Gophers.