Michigan State crushed by No. 6 Oregon for third straight loss

A change of scenery and trip to the West Coast didn’t prevent a similar result.

Facing a top-10 team for a second straight matchup, the Spartans couldn’t measure up.

No. 6 Oregon (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) built a 21-point lead at halftime and rolled to a 31-10 win on Friday night against Michigan State (3-3, 1-2), which dropped its third straight.

Playing their first home game as a new Big Ten member, the Ducks dominated the Spartans at the point of attack on both sides of the ball. Jordan James rushed for a career high before the second quarter ended and finished with 24 carries for 166 yards and a touchdown. Dillon Gabriel completed 20 of 32 throws for 257 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for a score.

It was an ugly return to the state first-year Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith called home for more than a decade as a player and coach at rival Oregon State. The Ducks, who beat Smith in his final game coaching the Beaver last year in Eugene, won for the 34th time in the last 35 games at Autzen Stadium.

Michigan State had life offensively on its opening possession of the game before the now-customary red zone turnover and was shut down after that until garbage time. The Ducks dominated the Spartans in rushing yards (213-59), total offense (477-250) and first downs (25-16).

Aidan Chiles didn’t get much help as the first-year starter for the Spartans was under constant pressure while being sacked four times. The sophomore finished 10-for-17 passing for 104 yards and rushed for 29 yards. Kay’Ron Lynch Adams scored on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout and Jonathan Kim added a late field goal.

Tight end Jack Velling led the Spartans with six catches for 53 yards while Nick Marsh and Montorie Foster combined for six grabs for 115 yards.

Prior to the final minutes, Michigan State’s highlights were preventing an even more lopsided score. Defensive backs Malik Spencer and Charles Brantley each had an interception in the red zone to keep the score close in the first half but that was short-lived.

Michigan State won the opening toss, deferred and then got a three-and-out for a strong start on the road. The Spartans’ offense looked much like it did on the opening drive of last week’s loss to Ohio State by moving the ball and the similarities extended to a 1-for-4 performance in the red zone against the Buckeyes. Chiles hit Marsh for 44 yards on fourth-and-2 down to the 2 but the quarterback fumbled on the following play and the Ducks recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Oregon followed with a red zone turnover of its own after putting together a 79-yard drive as Gabriel was intercepted by a diving Spencer in the end zone. The safety made an impressive play to haul in the ball a week after dropping a pick in the end zone.

The Ducks didn’t fail on their second trip inside the Michigan State 20 as Gabriel, who missed a play after taking a shot from Anthony Jones, ran it in for a 9-yard score and 7-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter. Then Gabriel, who entered Friday with only one interception for the season, was picked off for a second time in the red zone by the Spartans. Brantley jumped the route for his third interception of the fall.

Following the pair of interceptions by Gabriel, the Ducks kept it on the ground their next possession with all seven plays being run calls. James started it off with consecutive chunk gains and finished with a 3-yard touchdown to the left corner for a 14-0 lead with 5:26 left in the opening half.

Michigan State couldn’t put together a response before the break as Chiles was sacked on back-to-back possessions leading to a fourth straight punt. Gabriel found Evan Stewart for a 9-yard touchdown pass with five seconds to go as the Ducks took a 21-0 lead into the locker room.

Oregon racked up 363 yards in the first half with James’ 151 on the ground more than the 102 Michigan State posted as a team and the rout was on. Andrew Boyle made a 50-yard field goal midway through the third quarter and Gabriel threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tez Johnson early in the fourth.

After Chiles’ fumble on the opening possession of the game, the Spartans didn’t return to the red zone until the final quarter. Chiles drove the Spartans down the field with his arm and Lynch-Adams punched in a 1-yard score for their lone touchdown. That was the end of the night for Chiles, who was replaced by Tommy Schuster. The graduate transfer from North Dakota put together a drive that resulted in a 42-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim with 25 seconds left to close the scoring.

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