BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan State football needed to mine the depth of its program for its 74-man travel roster at Indiana.
The Spartans took fewer than 50 scholarship players on Saturday’s road trip. And then a few more key injuries occurred during the final road game of the season.
Somehow, they persevered. And escaped Memorial Stadium in seemingly improbable fashion.
“It was a gritty game,” senior running back Jaren Mangham said after MSU hung on for a 24-21 victory. “I’m so proud of how our guys fought and how they continue fight all season. We battled through a lot of adversity — even in this game, we had to overcome a lot of adversity.”
Katin Houser delivered an off-balance throw to Maliq Carr, who bounced off a walloping blast from Indiana’s Louis Moore and dashed into the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown with 1:19 to play.
Indiana mounted one final drive, and quarterback Brendan Sorsby directed them into scoring range. The Hoosiers caught MSU off guard after a timeout that was apparently setting up a 45-yard field goal attempt for Chris Freeman, but IU coach Tom Allen instead ran a play and picked up a first down.
But Sorsby’s ensuing first-and-10 pass from MSU’s 25 was ruled intentional grounding, backing up Freeman for a 49-yard kick. The ball sailed wide right.
For Harlon Barnett’s team, that was a sigh of relief. MSU (4-7, 2-6 Big Ten) hung on for its second win in the past three games and first on the road this season after blowing fourth-quarter leads at Iowa and Rutgers.
“We needed it. We needed it,” the Spartans’ interim coach said. “Any dub that you can get, you need those dubs,” Barnett said. “You can imagine what the locker room looks like now as opposed to if we hadn’t got the W.”
The Spartans close their season Friday against No. 12 Penn State at Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. (NBC).
Houser finished 26-for-41 for a career-high 251 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Carr also set personal bests with nine catches for 100 yards and two scores, and Montorie Foster added seven grabs for 93 yards and a spectacular TD.
But it was Carr’s equally-as-impressive game-winner that allowed MSU to exorcise some of its earlier fourth-quarter flops.
“It was a big moment in the game,” said Houser, who also had an 18-yard completion to Carr and a 15-yard run of his own earlier in the possession. “I went up to our guys and I basically just said, ‘Just give me everything you got. And I’ll give you everything I got.’ And that’s what they did. We executed on almost every play, and we had some big-time plays. And shout-out to Maliq just making that play at the end. It was huge.”
The Spartans won despite getting outgained, 408-323. After gaining only 25 yards with one first down in the third quarter, MSU’s offense picked up six first downs and 96 yards in the fourth. And its defense, despite giving up 144 yards down the stretch, ended up being able to celebrate as Freeman missed his kick with 2 seconds left.
“It’s frustrating, without a doubt,” Allen said. “Got a lot of young guys out there playing hard, but defense didn’t finish. Defense didn’t finish.”
Sorsby finished 19-for-34 with two touchdowns. Trent Howland and Josh Henderson combined for 151 of the 210 rushing yards for Indiana (3-8, 1-7).
Offense runs well
Houser was the only scholarship quarterback on the trip, with true freshman Sam Leavitt staying at home to preserve a redshirt and junior Noah Kim remaining out with an undisclosed injury. His backups were a pair of walk-ons, Andrew Schorfhaar as the No. 2 option and the third-stringer redshirt junior Zach Gillespie, who began his MSU career as a quarterback but converted to wide receiver.
The Spartans were without starting right guard Geno VanDeMark and top wide receivers Tre Mosley and Jaron Glover. And starting center Nick Samac left the game on the first drive after suffering an apparent left leg injury when Houser ran and rolled into him. The senior did not return.
Despite their roster limitations, the Spartans took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Houser directed a 10-play, 80-yard drive to open the game, hitting Carr for a 24-completion to get into Hoosiers territory. On third-and-11, one play after Samac’s injury, the QB again connected with Carr, throwing toward the right pylon and hitting his tight end through the double coverage for a 17-yard touchdown.
Indiana answered early in the second quarter with an 88-yard, 11-play scoring march. Sorsby used his legs for a 25-yard run early, then a 12-yard burst on third-and-7 to keep the drive alive in MSU territory. With key defensive tackle Maverick Hansen already out and starter Derrick Harmon out the final few plays with an injury late in the drive, the Hoosiers pounded the middle of the Spartans’ line and walk-on fourth-stringer Ben Nelson. Howland ran three times for the last 18 yards, tying the game with a 4-yard score.
Late in the half, after having an apparent Houser-to-Carr TD pass waved off due to an MSU penalty, the Spartans quickly moved downfield again. Houser found Foster for 20 yards on third-and-5. Two plays later, the senior receiver made an acrobatic, one-handed catch in double-coverage, juked those defenders, spun through another then ran away from another grabbing for the ball and scored a 29-yard touchdown.
Injuries mount
After Simeon Barrow blocked Indiana’s end-of-half field-goal attempt, the Hoosiers recovered and took the opening drive of the third quarter 72 yards in eight plays, including Sorsby running for 12 yards on third-and-2 and hitting Donaven McCulley for 38 yards late in the drive. That set up Sorsby’s 3-yard play-action touchdown pass to James Bomba to tie the game.
That’s when injuries started to hamper MSU.
Nate Carter got hit hard on a swing pass, then collapsed after getting up. The sophomore running back did not return.
Jonathan Kim’s 43-yard field goal gave the Spartans the lead back, but things went haywire from there.
With Dillon Tatum already hurt and out for the final two games, starting cornerback Chance Rucker did not play in the second half with an injury, Barnett said. Defensive end Brandon Wright was carted off with a right leg injury early in the fourth quarter. Then on the same play during Indiana’s drive after Kim’s field goal, both linebacker Aaron Brule and defensive tackle Jalen Sami got hurt, and Barrow went down on the next snap.
“We knew what we had available,” Barnett said. “And so, hey, the next guy was up. We were prepared in a lot of ways for it. … We were prepared for whatever would happen. It wasn’t quite panic mode, but it got there.”
Two plays later, Sorsby hit Trey Walker for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 4:06 left. The Spartans looked gassed, but they found just enough moxie — and bodies — to withstand the Hoosiers’ last-gasp drive after Carr’s touchdown gave them the lead for good.
Indiana ended MSU’s bowl hopes last season with a 39-31 double-overtime win in East Lansing. The Spartans missed a field-goal attempt at the end of regulation that would have won that game, then had another blocked in overtime.
Two things the Hoosiers dealt with Saturday that helped MSU escape victorious.
“It’s a little bit of revenge for last year, because last year hurt a little bit,” Carr said. “So I’m just happy to have (a win).”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.