College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan State 27, Rutgers 0
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 23, 2019
Where: SHI Stadium, Piscataway, New Jersey
Temperature: 45°
Head Official: Jeff Servinski
Attendance: 24641

Cody White caught a career-high 11 passes and scored a career-best three touchdowns to lead Michigan State to a 27-0 victory over Rutgers on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.

The win ended a five-game skid for the Spartans (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten), who now need a victory in next week's season-finale against Maryland to become bowl eligible.

White, a junior, gained 136 yards receiving and scored on passes of 21, 16 and 7 yards. Fifth-year senior quarterback Brian Lewerke was 21 of 30 for 239 yards and three touchdowns, while redshirt freshman Elijah Collins ran 31 times for 109 yards.

Rutgers (2-9, 0-8) gained only 140 total yards and did not pick up a first down in the first half.

Michigan State got on the board first when Lewerke hit White with a 21-yard pass in the corner of the end zone with 5:03 left in the first quarter. The Spartans added a 46-yard field goal from junior Matt Coghlin on their next drive to push the lead to 10-0 with 1:11 left in the first quarter.

Michigan State later failed to take advantage of an interception by sophomore safety Xavier Henderson, failing to pick up a first down before Coghlin's 33-yard field-goal attempt banged off the left upright. However, the Spartans closed the half with an impressive two-minute drive, marching 77 yards on seven plays and taking a 17-0 lead on a 16-yard touchdown pass to White.

The Spartans continued to move the ball in the second half, but its first drive ended when White had a ball pulled from his hands in the end zone and intercepted by Rutgers' redshirt freshman linebacker Deion Jennings. Michigan State later added a 37-yard field goal from Coghlin to push the lead to 20-0 with five seconds left in the third quarter.

A forced fumble and recovery by junior Josiah Scott on the next series set Michigan State up at the Rutgers 29. Four plays later, Lewerke hit White for his third touchdown catch of the game, this one for 7 yards that put Michigan State ahead 27-0 with 12:39 to play.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Michigan State   Rutgers
Elijah Collins Player Johnny Langan
31 Attempts 14
109 Yards 49
3.5 Avg Yards 3.5
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Michigan State   Rutgers
Cody White Player Isaih Pacheco
11 Receptions 2
136 Yards 25
12.4 Avg Yards 12.5
3 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Michigan State 395 156 239 3 2 1 3.0 1
Rutgers 140 83 57 0 0 1 2.0 0