SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 19, 2011
Kirk Cousins threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 12 Michigan State to an easy 55-3 victory over Indiana on Senior Day at Spartan Stadium.
The win could clinch the Big Ten Legends Division for the Spartans (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) pending a possible Nebraska loss at Michigan. Michigan State closes the regular season at Northwestern next weekend.
Indiana (1-10, 0-7 Big Ten) lost its eighth straight and fell by at least 21 points for the fifth time in the last six games.
Cousins, a fifth-year senior who is the Michigan Stateกฏs all-time career leader in passing efficiency, did most of his damage in the first half, throwing for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
B.J. Cunningham, another fifth-year senior, had 132 receiving yards and two scores for the Spartans, who led 34-3 at halftime.
Cousins hooked up with Cunningham for a 63-yard bomb to give Michigan State an early 10-0 lead, and later Cousins found Cunningham again for a 7-yard score that put the Spartans on top 41-3 with 11:35 left in the third quarter.
Cousins and Cunningham werenกฏt the only seniors to have their moment, though.
Wide receiver Keshawn Martin scored on a 47-yard catch and a 19-yard reverse, and fifth-year offensive lineman Joel Foreman even got in on the action with a 3-yard end-around กช his first career carry กช in the third quarter.
Cousins, the leaders of the winningest senior class in school history, left the game with about five minutes left in the third quarter to a standing ovation from the Spartan Stadium crowd.