Michigan State football ends losing skid with 20-17 win over Nebraska

EAST LANSING – For the first time in two months, Michigan State football can exhale.

A deep, long breath after nearly blowing another late lead.

Harlon Barnett got his first win as interim coach, and the seniors left Spartan Stadium victorious one final time as the Spartans ended a six-game losing streak by beating Nebraska on Saturday, 20-17.

"I said we have to be unified," Barnett said. "Everybody's got to be pulling the rope from the same end, and we can't be playing tug-of-war in our own building. Those guys have bought in, and I'm really proud of them for doing that. And I'll never forget these guys, because every week, they bounce back."

Katin Houser threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Christian Fitzpatrick in the second quarter, Sam Leavitt added a 25-yard scoring strike to Montorie Foster early in the fourth, and Jonathan Kim connected on two field goals as MSU (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten) scored its most points since a 27-24 loss at Rutgers on Oct. 14. It was the Spartans’ first victory since beating Richmond on Sept. 9, hours before allegations against then-coach Mel Tucker became public, which led to his eventual firing.

Nebraska (5-4, 3-3) got a 4-yard touchdown run from Emmett Johnson with 3:35 left, set up by a 43-yard dash through the defense by quarterback Heinrich Haarberg.

The Spartans’ offense went three-and-out, but the defense forced a fumble with 1:48 remaining. Yet Kim missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with 43 seconds to play, giving Nebraska one final chance. Simeon Barrow stripped Haarberg after an MSU penalty, but Nebraska recovered the ball on what should have been ruled an incomplete pass to stop the clock. The Spartans batted down the final pass beyond midfield as time expired, ending the Cornhuskers’ three-game win streak.

More importantly, MSU secured its first win in nearly two months by finishing in the fourth quarter. Finally.

"You gotta trust the defense, man, trust that they're gonna go out there and get the job done," said left guard J.D. Duplain, one of the seniors who were celebrated at the final home game of the season. "If you're a religious fellow, you maybe say a prayer or two. But once we saw that ball hit the ground and the game was over, it was one of the best feelings."

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QB tango

Questions persist about who the starting quarterback will be when MSU's challenge gets greater next Saturday at No. 3 Ohio State (7:30 p.m., NBC).

Houser had four three-and-out drives after Leavitt’s touchdown pass gave MSU a 20-10 lead with 12:13 to play, continuing an inability to move the offense at critical points. Leavitt played only two drives and seven snaps in the game.

"The biggest thing to improve on in the fourth quarter is making good decisions," said Houser, who went 13-for-20 for 165 yards and was sacked three times. "I feel like the biggest thing is protecting the football. You don't want to force any footballs or try to do something too much."

Barnett, who all week talked about the goal being to score touchdowns, promised on his pregame radio show that both Houser and Leavitt would play. Barnett gave Houser, a redshirt freshman, his fourth straight start despite ongoing offensive consistency issues and no touchdowns with Houser under center the past eight quarters entering the game.

The plan, Barnett said, was to rotate the two and give Leavitt the third drive of the first and second halves.

"That was it. And we said it (would be) regardless of how they were playing," Barnett said. "Now, obviously, if it got down to the point where we needed to say, 'Hey, we need to go back and put him back in for whatever reason,' we could have done that. But we just stuck to the plan, and it worked out for us today."

The Spartans had nine of their 11 first downs and six three-and-out possessions on Houser's 11 drives.

Houser immediately marched the Spartans 71 yards after the opening kickoff, using his tight ends and following a 17-yard third-down conversion to Brennan Parachek with a 42-yard strike down the middle to Jaylan Franklin. That drive stalled and Kim delivered a 35-yard field goal to open the scoring.

Barnett kept Houser in for all but one drive in the first half, with Leavitt going three-and-out on his lone possession that began at his own 5-yard line.

The Spartans used a trick play early in the second quarter when former high school quarterback-turned-receiver Alante Brown caught a toss-back from Houser behind the line of scrimmage and threw a 42-yard heave down the right side for Foster.

Houser capped it three plays later with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Christian Fitzpatrick that put MSU ahead, 10-7, with 9:14 left in the second quarter. It was the Spartans’ first touchdown drive with Houser at quarterback in nine quarters, dating to the third quarter of the loss at Rutgers.

Nebraska tied the game, 10-10, with a late second-quarter field goal after another three-and-out possession from Houser and the offense. MSU had a 182-151 advantage in total yards, with Houser going 5-for-8 for 141 yards in the half.

Houser was under center for almost all of the third quarter and had his first drive fizzle at the Nebraska 33, with Kim drilling a 50-yard field goal with 5:11 left in the period.

Leavitt got the first drive in the fourth quarter, and was drilled trying to catch a pass on a trick-play throw from Foster on the first play. But the QB bounced back, converting on third-and-4 with a 7-yard run and following it with a 25-yard strike to Foster between two defenders.

Leavitt did not play after that, finishing 1 of 2 passing with the TD. It was his fourth game action of the fall, which means he will have to make a decision whether to remain available or shut down his season and use a redshirt to maintain four years of eligibility.

Leavitt, a former four-star recruit like Houser was a class before, said he plans to talk with his family and coaches about that impending decision.

"You just got to do what's best for you and the team," Leavitt said. "So it's just having those conversations and figuring out what the best path is."

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Youth movement

The Spartans used senior day to give their defense a different starting look.

Junior Khary Crump, who was suspended for the past 12 games after the tunnel fight at Michigan last year, got the start at cornerback opposite redshirt freshman Caleb Coley. Freshman walk-on Brandon Lewis and sophomore Ade Willie started at safety.

That group produced a three-and-out drive, with Crump, Lewis and Coley each getting a tackle. Starters Dillon Tatum, Malik Spencer, Jaden Mangham and Chance Rucker came in for the next drive.

Rucker, who had started the past five games, wasn’t the only true freshman getting key snaps. Defensive end Jalen Thompson got the first start of his career, and Jordan Hall flew around the field and directed the defense at middle linebacker.

Thompson and Hall combined on a key sack in the second half. And with Nebraska trying to tie or perhaps win in the final two minutes, Thompson stripped Haarberg and Cal Haladay recovered at the Huskers’ 28. Thompson had two of the Spartans’ seven sacks.

Haarberg finished 12-for-28 for 129 yards and two interceptions, and scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter.

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football ends losing skid with 20-17 win over Nebraska