Stat Summary: Michigan State 31, Oregon 28

Sparty Survives!

It got a lot more interesting in the final moments than Michigan State fans had expected. The Spartans seemed to be in relative command at 31-21 with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Oregon scored a TD with 3:25 to go…then had the ball first and 10 at the MSU 37-yard line with a chance to tie or win the game in the final moments!

Michigan State’s defense held, finishing off a victory despite getting outgained on the night. Here are the final numbers…

Michigan State 31, Oregon 28

Total Yards: Oregon 432, Michigan State 390

Yards-Per-Play: Oregon 5.3, Michigan State 5.6

Rushing Yards: Oregon 123, Michigan State 198

Rush Percentage: Oregon 52%, Michigan State 53%

Passing Stats: Oregon 22-39-2-309, Michigan State 20-32-1-192

Third Downs: Oregon 31%, Michigan State 25%

Turnovers: Oregon 2, Michigan State 1

New Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams more than held his own considering the tough environment. But, he had trouble sustaining drives. Those two turnovers were in addition to a 2 of 6 night on fourth down conversions. Those are virtual turnovers because possession changes. Passing for more than 300 yards on the way to a team total of more than 400 yards is nothing to be ashamed of. Just wasn’t enough to win on the road against a top five opponent.

Just like last year’s game…

• Michigan State won the first half but lost the second half (14-7 in the first half this time, as both teams blew great scoring opportunities…Oregon won the second half 21-17).

• Oregon won total yardage by less than 50 (still evenly matched in yardage despite the QB change).

• There were a lot of big plays…but too many failed drives. The two teams combined to go 7 of 25 on third down conversion attempts. You know Oregon had four fourth down misses. Michigan State missed a chippy field goal.

• Michigan State passed more than expected, only running 53% of the time despite a smash mouth reputation. Madre London and L.J. Scott combined for 179 rushing yards on 29 carries for a hefty 6.2 per carry average. Two incomplete passes on what could have been the game cinching drive gave Oregon the ball back with plenty of time to score and some timeouts.

• Oregon covered the closing spread! Sportsbooks got middled here in terms of early and late money. Michigan State bettors who got in early below a field goal won despite their last second sweat. Oregon money at +3.5 or better late in the week cashed their tickets as well. Worst case scenario for sportsbooks in one of the biggest betting attractions of the weekend.

Entertaining game featuring teams who will be in the college football headlines all season.

For those of you on the Premium program, boxscore notes from “misleading final scores” will be ready by late in the day Monday. Our next big game showcase preview for #17 Ole Miss at #2 Alabama will be up for everyone by Friday. Hope you had a great Saturday.

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Jeff Fogle is a freelance writer living in Austin, Texas. He writes about college football analytics for The Saturday Edge. He also writes about college and pro football, college and pro basketball, and MLB on his blog StatIntelligence. You can follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffFogle.

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