November 3, 2018 Week 10 · Regular Season Belt defended

Michigan State defends the belt, 24–3, on the road at Maryland.

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Maryland 3

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Michigan State 24

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Michigan State came in 7 days into reign #305, which began with a win over Purdue, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. It was the last defense: Ohio State took the belt in the very next belt game, on November 10, 2018.

For Maryland this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

This is the only time Maryland and Michigan State have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Michigan State's defense dominated Maryland from the opening drive, with Connor Heyward scoring on a rushing touchdown just 7:55 into the first quarter to set the tone for the afternoon. The Spartans controlled the game through the air and ground, with Brian Lewerke orchestrating efficient drives punctuated by Matt Coghlin's 33-yard field goal in the first quarter to extend the lead to 10-0. Maryland managed only a Joseph Petrino field goal in the second quarter as Michigan State's defense suffocated the Terrapins' offense, which managed just 100 total yards. The Spartans put the game away in the fourth quarter when Heyward burst through for an 80-yard rushing touchdown, and a second Michigan State touchdown on a fumble recovery sealed a dominant defensive performance that kept the belt firmly in East Lansing.

Connor Heyward's 1st quarter rushing TD gave MSU an early 7-0 lead and set the defensive tone
Matt Coghlin's 33-yard field goal extended MSU's lead to 10-0 before Maryland scored their first points
Connor Heyward's 80-yard rushing TD in Q4 put the game out of reach and secured belt retention
MSU's defense forced multiple Maryland turnovers while allowing only 100 total yards of offense

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

MarylandMichigan State

Total yards100356

Rushing yards26269

Passing yards7487

First downs919

3rd down conv.3/155/14

Turnovers22

Penalties–yards3–254–33

Time of possession23:0436:56

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 7:55	Michigan State	+18 yd	Connor Heyward run for 18 yds for a TD (Matt Coghlin KICK)
Q1 10:45	Michigan State	+24 yd	Brian Lewerke pass complete to Cody White for 24 yds to the Mary 29 for a 1ST down
Q1 7:55	Michigan State	+25 yd	Cole Hahn kickoff for 60 yds , Javon Leake return for 25 yds to the Mary 30
Q1 5:39	Michigan State	+22 yd	Brian Lewerke run for 22 yds to the Mary 20 for a 1ST down
Q1 3:32	Michigan State	+33 yd	Matt Coghlin 33 yd FG GOOD
Q2 5:13	Maryland	+23 yd	Joseph Petrino 23 yd FG GOOD
Q2 2:42	Michigan State	+24 yd	Brian Lewerke pass complete to Darrell Stewart Jr. for 9 yds to the Mary 46 for a 1ST down MARYLAND Penalty, Personal Foul (Mbi Tanyi) to the Mary 39 for a 1ST down
Q3 15:00	Maryland	+49 yd	Joseph Petrino kickoff for 64 yds , Connor Heyward return for 49 yds to the 50 yard line
Q3 4:17	Michigan State	+0 yd	Connor Heyward run for 5 yds, Connor Heyward fumbled, recovered by MchSt Max Rosenthal for a TD (Matt Coghlin KICK)
Q4 14:55	Maryland	+0 yd	Javon Leake run for no gain to the MchSt 28 Javon Leake fumbled, forced by Joe Bachie, recovered by MchSt Joe Bachie
Q4 14:06	Michigan State	+0 yd	Brian Lewerke pass intercepted RaVon Davis return for no gain to the MchSt 43
Q4 13:02	Maryland	-9 yd	Kasim Hill sacked by Naquan Jones for a loss of 9 yards to the MchSt 37 Kasim Hill fumbled, recovered by Mary Kasim Hill , return for 0 yards
Q4 11:11	Michigan State	-12 yd	Rocky Lombardi pass intercepted, touchback. Byron Cowart return for 12 yds Byron Cowart fumbled, forced by Darrell Stewart Jr., recovered by MchSt Matt Dotson
Q4 11:00	Michigan State	+80 yd	Connor Heyward run for 80 yds for a TD (Matt Coghlin KICK)
Q4 10:25	Maryland	+21 yd	Kasim Hill pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 21 yds to the MchSt 45 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Maryland

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Kasim Hill	8/21	74	3.5	0	0
Tyrrell Pigrome	0/3	0	0.0	0	0

Michigan State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Brian Lewerke	11/20	87	4.3	0	1
Rocky Lombardi	0/2	0	0.0	0	1

Rushing

Maryland

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Tayon Fleet-Davis	8	26	3.3	10
Anthony McFarland	8	17	2.1	9
Marcus Lewis	1	8	8.0	8
Jeshaun Jones	1	7	7.0	7
Taivon Jacobs	1	1	1.0	1
Javon Leake	2	1	0.5	1
Team	1	-1	-1.0	0
Tyrrell Pigrome	2	-9	-4.5	0
Kasim Hill	6	-16	-2.7	12

Michigan State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Connor Heyward	15	157	10.5	2	80
Brian Lewerke	9	45	5.0	0	22
Weston Bridges	8	36	4.5	0	9
La'Darius Jefferson	11	30	2.7	0	7
Jalen Nailor	1	6	6.0	0	6
Team	2	-5	-2.5	0	0

Receiving

Maryland

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Chigoziem Okonkwo	1	21	21.0	21
Taivon Jacobs	1	14	14.0	14
Jeshaun Jones	1	14	14.0	14
Darryl Jones	2	13	6.5	7
Dontay Demus	1	6	6.0	6
Avery Edwards	1	4	4.0	4
Anthony McFarland	1	2	2.0	2

Michigan State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Darrell Stewart Jr.	3	24	8.0	10
Cody White	2	20	10.0	24
Brandon Sowards	1	12	12.0	12
Cam Chambers	1	11	11.0	11
Matt Dotson	1	8	8.0	8
Jalen Nailor	1	8	8.0	8
Connor Heyward	1	2	2.0	2
La'Darius Jefferson	1	2	2.0	2

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Maryland

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD
Tre Watson	13	6	0	0
Isaiah Davis	9	4	0	0
Antoine Brooks Jr.	5	5	0	0
Jesse Aniebonam	4	3	0	0
Darnell Savage Jr.	4	3	0	0
Adam McLean	3	3	0	0
RaVon Davis	3	1	0	1
Deon Jones	3	1	0	0
Tino Ellis	2	2	0	1
Oluwaseun Oluwatimi	2	2	0	0
Rayshad Lewis	2	2	0	0
Antwaine Richardson	2	1	0	0
Jordan Mosley	2	1	0	0
Keiron Howard	1	1	0	0
Mbi Tanyi	1	1	0	0
Lawtez Rogers	1	1	0	0
Durell Nchami	1	1	1	0
Joseph Petrino	1	1	0	0
Oseh Saine	1	0	0	0
Byron Cowart	1	0	0	0

Michigan State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Khari Willis	9	3	0	0	0
Joe Bachie	7	4	0	2	2
Kenny Willekes	6	4	1.5	2	0
Andrew Dowell	6	2	0	0	0
Naquan Jones	5	4	0	1	0
Brandon Randle	2	2	2	2	0
Matt Morrissey	2	1	0	0	0
Jon Reschke	1	1	0	0	0
David Dowell	1	1	0	0	0
Darrell Stewart Jr.	1	1	0	0	0
Drew Beesley	1	1	0	0	0
Mike Panasiuk	1	1	0	0	1
Tyriq Thompson	1	0	0.5	0.5	0
Grayson Miller	1	0	0	0	0
Raequan Williams	1	0	0	0	1
Justin Layne	1	0	0	0	0
Jacub Panasiuk	1	0	0	0.5	0
Antjuan Simmons	1	0	0	0	0
Xavier Henderson	1	0	0	0	0
Josiah Scott	0	0	0	0	1

Fumbles

Maryland

Player	FUM	LOST
Kasim Hill	2	0
Byron Cowart	1	1
Javon Leake	1	1
Anthony McFarland	1	0

Michigan State

Player	FUM	REC
Joe Bachie	0	1
Brian Lewerke	1	0
Connor Heyward	1	0
Matt Dotson	0	1

Interceptions

Maryland

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Byron Cowart	1	12	0
RaVon Davis	1	0	0

Michigan State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Maryland

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Javon Leake	2	39	19.5	25	0

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Connor Heyward	1	49	49.0	49	0

Kicking

Maryland

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Joseph Petrino	1/1	100.0	23	0/0	3

Michigan State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Matt Coghlin	1/1	100.0	33	3/3	6

Punt Returns

Maryland

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Taivon Jacobs	1	0	0.0	0	0

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brandon Sowards	1	5	5.0	5	0

Punting

Maryland

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Wade Lees	8	360	45.0	0	3	67

Michigan State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Bryce Baringer	6	173	28.8	1	2	52

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401012877) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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