College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan State 35, Purdue 31
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 20, 2010
Where: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
Temperature: 39°
Head Official: Scott McElwee
Attendance: 71111

Kirk Cousins threw three touchdowns and ran for the game-winning score with 4:32 left as No. 11 Michigan State kept its Big Ten title dream afloat by rallying for a 35-31 victory over Purdue on Saturday.

Chris Norman’s interception of Rob Henry set up Cousins’ 3-yard score that put the Spartans ahead for good. Michigan State outscored Purdue 22-3 in the final quarter.

Mark Dell caught a pair of touchdowns for the Spartans (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten), who kept their hopes of winning the Big Ten outright for the first time since 1988 by overcoming a 15-point second-half deficit.

Michigan State trailed 28-13 after three quarters, but Cousins began the comeback by hitting B.J. Cunningham for a 5-yard score with 10:55 left in the fourth. He then capped a 7-play, 69-yard drive with a 9-yard score to Dell that made it 31-28 with 6:54 left.

Cousins finished 28 of 37 for 276 yards and an interception.

Henry was 16 of 26 for 189 yards and two touchdown and two interceptions for the Boilermakers (4-7, 2-5), who have lost five straight.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Purdue   Michigan State
Keith Carlos Player Edwin Baker
6 Attempts 16
103 Yards 90
17.2 Avg Yards 5.6
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Receiving
Purdue   Michigan State
Cortez Smith Player Mark Dell
3 Receptions 8
83 Yards 108
27.7 Avg Yards 13.5
1 Touchdowns 2
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Purdue 378 189 189 3 1 1 1.0 0
Michigan State 381 95 286 5 0 2 0.0 0