MSU takes brunt of Badgers

EAST LANSING - A mesh Band-Aid covered a nasty gash on Greg Jones' left cheek.

He was one of the lucky ones in Michigan State's make-shift triage unit Saturday.

Already ailing from the grind of the 10th week of the season, the Spartans added to their wounds and list of injured against Wisconsin in an old-fashioned, black-and-blue Big Ten battle.

"Oh, I'm banged-up. I just kept getting hit and hit ...," said safety Otis Wiley, who limped off the field after a punt return during the 25-24 MSU victory. "It was a physical game. I know a lot of people got tweaks and bruises and bumps."

It didn't matter whether they were on offense or defense - no Spartan was immune from the brutish Badgers' wrath.

Wisconsin's rushing attack dominated, with its bruising backs combining for 281 yards. Sophomore John Clay had 111 of them and a touchdown on 14 carries, while senior P.J. Hill ran for 106 and a score on 20 attempts.

"It's hard to swallow," Badgers coach Bret Bielema said. "Obviously, there are certain things we believe in. If you are able to run the football effectively, which we were able to do, and stay penalty-free, you should be able to get the win. And obviously we weren't able to do that."

The Badgers finished with 12 penalties for 121 yards.

While MSU's front four were getting thumped around in the trenches and taking some nicks, its secondary suffered one injury after another.

Cornerback Ross Weaver (undisclosed) and linebacker Ryan Allison (sprained foot) did not play. Chris L. Rucker did not return at cornerback after suffering a lower body injury, while safety Kendell Davis-Clark (shoulder) missed a long stretch of action. Defensive tackle Justin Kershaw said he wasn't at 100 percent but played through the pain.

Still, the mix-and-match defense did not allow any pass plays of more than 28 yards, and Wisconsin's longest play of the day was Clay's 32-yard TD run through a hospital-sized hole early in the final quarter.

"When it comes down to it, it's toughness," Kershaw said. "Toughness is (backup) guys getting their name called and playing when you're hurt. ... Guys just stepped it up and were tough, and I think that's what gets us over the hump."

Until allowing 12 straight points in the final 8:13, the Badgers' defense kept the Spartans' offense in check. Or at least near the trainer's table.

• Star running back Javon Ringer was recovering from a stomach virus which caused him to lose 10 pounds last week, then had to shuffle to the sideline in the fourth quarter. He returned on MSU's next drive and scored from 2 yards out, but finished with a season-low 54 yards.

• Left guard Joel Foreman limped off the field briefly with an undisclosed injury in the first half but did return.

• Receivers, though, were the most affected. Sophomore Mark Dell (knee) dressed but did not play. MSU then lost freshman Keshawn Martin to a right shoulder injury early in the third quarter, then redshirt freshman B.J. Cunningham had the wind knocked out of him early in the fourth and missed most of the final quarter.

Those injuries pushed prominent roles to seldom-used senior Deon Curry and redshirt freshman Chris D. Rucker, who had a few drops on the game-winning, fourth-quarter drive. Former walk-on Blair White, a week after a breakout game at Michigan, took the lead and finished with seven catches for 164 yards.

"It's kind of hard because you don't have the timing set up with some of those guys," Hoyer said. "Maybe that's one of the reasons I stuck with Blair White, because he was the guy out there I had the most experience with."