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PISCATAWAY, NJ – Kenneth Walker III was sprinting down the left sideline with no one but a teammate.
So, before the Michigan state backer hit the goal line for a 94-yard touchdown run, he hit a top five with wide receiver Jalen Nailor.
“I guess I got a little too excited,” Walker said, “and that’s what happened.”
Walker’s excitement was understandable. He just set the program record for the longest scrum game and that put an exclamation mark on Michigan State’s 31-13 (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) win at Rutgers (3-3 , 0-3 Big Ten) Saturday.
It was the biggest of another week of big games that the Spartans continue to present with an explosive attack. In addition to Walker’s long run, Jalen Nailor had touchdown passes of 63, 63 and 65 yards.
“We know we can make plays, we know we can score, we know we can move the ball,” second-year coach Mel Tucker said. “That’s not the problem, it’s about execution and taking what’s there and being able to make the plays that are there and execute the play that is called. We know we can drive the ball and we know we can also be explosive and get chunks in one play or score points in one play. We know we can do it, we’ve done it all along of the season.
Heard outside Michigan State locker rooms: Pick your poison and go
Payton Thorne had 16 passes on 27 for a career-high 339 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, while Nailor had five career-high catches with 221 yards and three touchdowns. Walker added 29 carries for 233 yards and one scoring. The combination puts Michigan State in a rare category as the fifth team in FBS history and second in the Big Ten, to have a 300-yard passer, a 200-yard rusher, and a 200-yard receiver in the same game. The feat was last accomplished by the state of Oklahoma in 2008.
“It’s very difficult defensively to plan a game for an offense or to play against an offense that can run the ball and throw it,” Tucker said. “It’s really hard because it’s like choosing your poison.”
After falling 7-0 midway through the first quarter, it took Michigan State just two games to tie the game as Thorne connected with Nailor for a 63-yard touchdown. The Scarlet Knights regained a field goal in the second quarter and the Spartans responded with another 63-yard touchdown from Thorne to Nailor. That five-game possession was the longest touchdown of the game for Michigan State, which scored twice on a single play, including a 65-yard strike to Nailor on a flea flicker in the second quarter.
“I think it’s a good way to take the momentum they’ve created by scoring or making big plays like that,” said Nailor, who posted the fourth-highest receptions-per-game total in the game. history of the program. “I think it was just important to kill their momentum and move our momentum forward.”
Michigan State had three goals on its first two possessions of the second half before getting a much-needed spark from Walker for the second down in a single play of the game. He took a transfer and found room in the middle, headed for the sideline, got a good block from wide receiver Jayden Reed, then made a cut to throw in for the score.
“The line did a great job at the first level and I was wide open so I just took it on the left side,” Walker said. “I saw that I could bounce him back. (Reed) did a great job of maintaining their block, I went around, I got one-on-one with security, made a move and then it was wide open from the.
For a team whose offense has been one of the worst in the country in recent years, the explosiveness of the first half of this season has been a huge change. Reed and Nailor combined for 982 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, Thorne threw for 14 scores and just two interceptions while Walker entered the game as the nation’s top rusher and now has 913 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. while generating the Heisman Trophy buzz. The state of Michigan has weapons on attack and they show up every week.
“You get into those moments where you’re just rolling around and every play call that comes in it’s like, okay, I love that, let’s go, let’s go,” Thorne said. “It comes with preparation throughout the week and being able to look at a defense and say OK, I know what they’re doing, I know what they’re into.”
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