No. 10 Indiana Dominates Michigan State 24-0, Stays Undefeated on Season
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Whop Philyor and Reese Taylor went running over to the Michigan State sideline as the clock struck triple zeros on Saturday afternoon to find something that now belongs to them.
The two Hoosiers wanted to grab a prize that has eluded them for the past three years. After Indiana's 24-0 win over Michigan State, the Hoosiers now own possession of the Old Brass Spittoon.
It wasn't on the Spartans' sideline because it was already waiting for Indiana in their own locker room.
This the first time Indiana has defeated Michigan State since 2016, and with this win Saturday, the No. 10-ranked Hoosiers are now 4-0 on the season.
"To get a shutout here is pretty special," head coach Tom Allen said. "Just really proud of our games. You got to go on the road and win some ugly ones sometimes."
It was all thanks to an impressive first half from Indiana that broke open the game.
The first half was once again a story of Indiana's defense getting its offense going.
Quarterback Michael Penix threw an interception on Indiana's first possession, and the Hoosiers went three-and-out on their second possession.
Then, cornerback Tiawan Mullen got the first interception of his career, picking off Rocky Lombardi and setting the offense up in nice position.
"I just saw the ball and made a play, to be simple with you," Mullen said.
After a couple of nice throws from Penix to move the ball down the field, Stevie Scott finished it off with an 8-yard run up the middle to get Indiana on the board.
On the Spartans' next possession, Thomas Allen forced a fumble and James Head Jr. recovered. This resulted in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Penix to Ty Fryfogle to take a 14-0 lead.
"I was happy they gave me the ball and the opportunity to fight for that touchdown," Fryfogle said.
The Hoosiers kept rolling from there. Mullen picked off Lombardi for a second time, which turned into a short Charles Campbell field goal.
Lombardi was benched, and the Spartans brought in Payton Thorne, but the Hoosiers made things difficult on him, too.
Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, Penix connected on 20-of-28 passes and threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns, both of them were to Fryfogle.
The second was a beautiful throw to Fryfole, who got behind his defender and took it 65 yards for a touchdown. That was a career-long catch for Fryfogle, and it also gave him career numbers across the board just in the first half, with nine catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
"He's a great player," Penix said. "And great players make great plays."
That first-half performance was all Indiana needed, as the Hoosiers cruised the rest of the way.
Both teams didn't put up any points in the third or fourth quarters.
The defense continued to impress, stifling the Spartans for zero points the whole night. Taylor came up with an interception in the fourth quarter and returned it for 53 yards.
"If you want to win games, you need to have a good defense," Allen said. "To be able to create takeaways is a game-changer."
Indiana's offense couldn't convert after Taylor's pick, which set it up at the nine.
The Hoosiers' offense looked very complacent in the second half, which left some fans restless during the game.
Penix only attempted 10 passes in the second half, finishing the game 25-for-38 with 320 passing yards and two touchdowns. Scott got a bulk of the carries throughout the game, finishing with 23 carries for 83 yards and one touchdown.
Fryfogle finished the game with 11 catches for 200 yards, which ranks seventh all-time in program history for receiving yardage in a single game.
Penix said they aren't pleased with how the offense played throughout the game.
But in the end, Indiana did what it wanted to do and came away with the victory and shut out the Spartans in the process. It was the Hoosiers' first shutout over Michigan State since 1993, and their biggest margin of victory over the Spartans since 2006, when they won 46-21.
Indiana is now 4-0 on the season and will be going to Columbus next week for a huge matchup against Ohio State, which had its game canceled against Maryland this week.
It will be a top-10 clash between the Hoosiers and Buckeyes and the biggest game of Indiana's season.
"It's just another opportunity for us," Mullen said.
