MSU football's defense carved up -- until clutch final stop

WEST LAFAYETTE - Statistically, Michigan State's defense played its worst game of the season.

Yet the only truly important numbers ended up on the Spartans' side:

MSU 40, Purdue 37

Just looking at the stat sheet, though, that final score would seem impossible:

• Purdue racked up 524 total yards and held the ball for an astonishing 40 minutes, 39 seconds.

• The Boilermakers totaled 28 first downs to just 12 for the Spartans.

• Purdue quarterback Joey Elliot completed 39 passes for a career-high 373 yards.

• Boilermaker junior receiver Keith Smith caught 15 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown.

"It got to a point where people started thinking, what's happening?" junior linebacker Jon Misch said about the defense's struggles. "Greg (Jones) did a great job taking everybody to the side and saying, 'Keep your heads up, keep your heads in the game, keep playing. We got this.' "

And they did. Somehow.

"I think it was just heart," junior defensive end Colin Neely said.

It was Neely's sack of Elliott on fourth down on the Boilermakers' final possession that sealed the win.

"I was on the sideline, I said, 'Colin, do you need a (breather)?' " defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said. "Colin's saying 'Coach, it's the fourth quarter' ... looking at me like I'm nuts."

Neely had four tackles on the day, two for losses. Despite getting banged up over the course of the game, the former backup said his decision to remain in the game was easy.

"I've been sitting on the bench for, what, three years? I really didn't want to sit on the bench anymore, so I just had to go in," he said.

Neely's sack was the only one for the defense on a day when nothing seemed to go right.

Aside from being unable to stop Elliott through the air, running back Ralph Bolden ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns on 20 attempts. Meanwhile, backup Jaycen Taylor had 60 yards on just nine carries, for an average of 6.7 yards.

"They're a very good offense," Gordon said. "There's times that it was third-and-medium, third-and-short and they made the big play...They did that consistently all game."

Boilermakers coach Danny Hope said Purdue was able to take advantage of things from a schematic standpoint.

"We had a great game plan. They have a very vanilla defensive formation," Hope said. "We knew what were up against and what we had to do. We just had to execute and I felt like we really did."

Sophomore Trenton Robinson lead the Spartans with a career-high 14 tackles at strong safety, his first-ever start at the position. Robinson previously started three games at free safety this season.

Purdue wore out MSU's entire defense early in the third quarter, compiling a 17-play, 80-yard drive which spanned just over 8 1/2 minutes. Cortez Smith capped it off with a 3-yard touchdown reception.

Still, the Spartans were finally able to put a stop to the Boilermakers when it mattered most.

"My confidence didn't waver," Jones said. "I feel like I know what it takes to win when you're down. I remember as a freshman I got down on myself really early, but this time I picked it up. And it wasn't just me, it was my teammates picking me up."

Said Neely: "Purdue had a great game plan. Big ups to their coaching staff and their players, but at the end of the day we prevailed."