Michigan Wolverines vs Michigan State Spartans Match Player Stats On Oct 29, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Oct 29, 2016

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- De'Veon Smith had two rushing touchdowns and Amara Darboh piled up a career-high 165 receiving yards to lead No. 2 Michigan to a 32-23 win over rival Michigan State on Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

Jabrill Peppers also scored a rushing touchdown for Michigan (8-0 overall, 5-0 Big Ten), while Wilton Speight completed 16 of 25 pass attempts for 244 yards. Darboh made six of his eight receptions in the first half, when Michigan established a 17-point lead.

LJ Scott rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown for Michigan State (2-6, 0-5), which lost its sixth straight. The Spartans won seven of the last eight meetings, including their improbable 27-23 victory last season on Jalen Watts-Jackson's 38-yard fumble return after an aborted Michigan punt attempt on the game's last play. Though Michigan State rallied late, there was no such drama this time around.

Michigan scored on all five of its first-half possessions and led 27-10 at halftime.

Scott gained a combined 61 yards on Michigan State's opening drive, including a 5-yard touchdown run. The Wolverines quickly responded with an 80-yard drive, which Peppers finished off when he took a direct snap and scored from three yards out.

Eddie McDoom's 33-yard run off a handoff from Peppers set up Michigan's next score, a 1-yard touchdown run by Smith.

Michael Geiger's career-long 52-yard field goal pulled the Spartans within four at 14-10. Kenny Allen's 23-yard field goal extended the Wolverines' lead to seven.

Michigan scored 10 points in the last minute of the half. Smith found the end zone on a 6-yard run up the middle with 39 seconds left.

Following a Jourdan Lewis interception, Allen kicked another 23-yard field goal on the last play of the half.

The Spartans had a chance to creep closer midway through the third but Scott was stopped four consecutive times inside the Michigan 5.

Allen's 45-yard field goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter made it 30-10.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Brian Lewerke, the third quarterback used by Spartans coach Mark Dantonio, hit Monty Madaris with a 20-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans drove inside the Wolverines 20 in the late going, but Lewerke was sacked by Peppers -- playing his usual linebacker position -- on fourth down.

Tyler O'Connor's 5-yard pass to Donnie Corley in the final second made it a seven-point game. Peppers then returned a fumble for two points on the Spartans' two-point conversion try.

NOTES: Michigan's last victory at East Lansing was 2007, a 28-24 triumph during coach Mark Dantonio first season with the Spartans. That was also the most recent season that the Wolverines won their first five Big Ten games. ... The Wolverines lead the all-time series 69-35-5. ... The last time the Spartans lost six straight on the field was 1982, when they started the season 0-7. They forfeited all of their wins in 1994 due to an academic scandal. ... Michigan was playing the 1,300th game in its 137-year history. It leads the NCAA with 933 all-time victories.