Michigan State football pulls off upset at Illinois, 23-15

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It couldn’t have started any worse, with Payton Thorne throwing an interception into the wind on the first play of the game.

That couldn’t have turned out better, as Michigan State football’s defense put together another goal-line stand. And for much of Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, things kept going the Spartans’ way against No. 13 Illinois.

Particularly with a swarming defense that smothered the Illini, getting critical fourth down stops and turnovers while the MSU offense found a run game late and did just enough for a 23-15 victory.

Thorne threw touchdowns to Tre Mosley and Jayden Reed and finished 19 of 29 for 182 yards passing. Jarek Broussard added an 11-yard touchdown run, while Jalen Berger ran for 81 yards on 15 carries and added three catches for 29 yards for the Spartans (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten).

Illinois’ defense had allowed just six touchdowns all season entering Saturday’s game.

MSU won with just 294 yards of offense and despite allowing 441 yards on defense. But that doesn’t tell the job that Mel Tucker and Scottie Hazelton’s defense did, holding Illinois (7-2, 4-2) to 1-for-6 on fourth down in the game, including back-to-back sacks with a little more than 3 minutes to play to seal the victory.

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MSU hosts Rutgers next Saturday at Spartan Stadium, with time and TV network to be determined by Sunday.

The Spartans bolstered their chances of making a bowl game, now needing two wins in the final three games to qualify for the postseason.

Thorne’s first pass on the opening play of the game to tight end Daniel Barker hung up in the strong winds that persisted all day. Illini cornerback Sydney Brown leaped with Barker and pulled in the interception at MSU’s 41-yard line.

Chase Brown got off to a strong start, with 24 yards on two carries to get Illinois into the red zone. But MSU stuffed him and quarterback Tommy DeVito twice from the 3, then Brown got a yard on third down. DeVito’s quick throw to receiver Isaiah Williams went wide on fourth down, and the Spartans dodged a bullet.

However, their offense went three-and-out, and after the punt DeVito connected for a 60-yard touchdown to Williams, who caught the short crossing route in front of MSU linebacker Cal Haladay and weaved his way through the MSU defense.

The Spartans answered with a 6-minute, 27-second drive, capped by a Ben Patton 21-yard field goal. Then early in the second quarter on their next drive, Thorne hit Reed for a 31-yard deep ball into the wind to set up Tre Mosley 2-yard touchdown catch to cap the drive. Patton missed the extra point, and MSU carried its 9-7 lead into the break, the Spartans’ first halftime lead since their 52-0 win over Akron on Sept. 10.

MSU caught a break when an Illini punt hit an upback, and the Spartans took over at the Illinois 29-yard line. Broussard scored to put MSU up 16-7 with 5:45 left in the third quarter.

The defense then stopped the Illini near midfield on fourth-and-1, and the offense needed just three plays for Thorne to hit Reed for a 17-yard score that extended the Spartans’ lead to 23-7.

Illinois answered early in the fourth quarter a jet flip pass from DeVito to Williams for 7 yards, and the two-point pass pulled the Illini within 23-15 with 14:27 to play.

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The Illini got one final chance after Patton missed a 31-yard field goal attempt with 1:06 to play, but the Spartans managed to hang on and stripped the ball on the final play as time ran out with Illinois out of timeouts.

MSU was without eight defensive players who are suspended indefinitely for their role in a postgame fight with No. 4 Michigan last week: three starters in linebacker/defensive end Jacoby Windmon, defensive end Zion Young and defensive back Angelo Grose; two key backups in defensive end Brandon Wright and defensive back Justin White; and two special teams contributors in linebacker/defensive end Itayvion “Tank” Brown and cornerback Malcom Jones. Defensive ends Jeff Pietrowski and Khris Bogle also were out with injuries, as was defensive end Michael Fletcher.

Brown finished with 136 yards rushing on 33 carries, the sixth straight to eclipse 100 yards on the Spartans.

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

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