EVANSTON, Ill. — Kirk Cousins threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 7 Michigan State rallied to beat Northwestern 35-27 and remain unbeaten Saturday.
B.J. Cunningham made an acrobatic grab for the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes left. Edwin Baker added a 25-yard scoring run and Eric Gordon intercepted Dan Persa in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
Playing out of state for the first time this season, the Spartans scored 28 points in the second half. They trailed the entire way until Cunningham’s grab with two minutes left on a ball that he and Northwestern’s Brian Peters tipped in the end zone.
Cunningham corralled the ball as he crashed to the ground, giving Michigan State its first lead at 28-27. That catch capped an 88-yard drive in which Cousins was 7 of 8 passing.
After a drive by the Wildcats went nowhere, Michigan State (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) took over at the Northwestern 31, and Baker broke through from the 25 to make it 35-27 with 1:07 left.
Northwestern (5-2, 1-2) had one more chance, but Gordon’s interception preserved the victory.
Sports, Pages 39 on 10/24/2010