Payton Thorne went 19-of-29 passing for 182 yards and two touchdowns to help lead Michigan State to a 23-15 upset win over No. 14 Illinois on Saturday in Champaign, Ill.
Jalen Berger rushed for 81 yards on 15 carries for Michigan State (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten), which won on the road for the first time in four tries.
Tommy DeVito went 25-of-37 passing for two touchdowns and Chase Brown rushed for 136 yards on 33 carries for Illinois (7-2, 4-2), which saw a six-game winning streak snapped.
The Fighting Illini went 1-for-6 on fourth-down conversions.
Illinois took a 7-0 lead with 8:03 remaining in the first quarter on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Devito to Isaiah Williams, who caught a short pass, got free down the sideline and maneuvered around the defense to the end zone.
Michigan State cut Illinois' lead to 7-3 with 1:36 remaining in the first after a 21-yard field goal by Ben Patton.
The Spartans then took a 9-7 lead with 10:21 left in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to Tre Mosley, and then grabbed a 16-7 lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by Jarek Broussard with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter.
The score was set up after Michigan State took over on the Illinois 29-yard line after a punt by Illinois' Hugh Robertson hit the back of one of his linemen.
The Spartans then took a 23-7 lead with 2:57 left in the third quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to Jayden Reed.
Illinois cut Michigan State's lead to 23-15 with 14:27 remaining in the game on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Devito to Williams and subsequent two-point conversion pass from DeVito to Tip Reiman.
Illinois drove to Michigan State's 20-yard line in the fourth quarter, but was stopped on downs on a fourth-and-2 with 8:11 remaining.
--Field Level Media
Michigan State | Illinois | |
Jalen Berger | Player | Chase Brown |
15 | Attempts | 33 |
81 | Yards | 136 |
5.4 | Avg Yards | 4.1 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Michigan State | Illinois | |
Jayden Reed | Player | Isaiah Williams |
5 | Receptions | 5 |
68 | Yards | 98 |
13.6 | Avg Yards | 19.6 |
1 | Touchdowns | 2 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Michigan State | 294 | 112 | 182 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 2 |
Illinois | 441 | 153 | 288 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |