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The Rutgers Scarlet Knights defeated the Michigan State Spartans by a final score of 38-27 to open each team’s Big Ten 2020 football season.
The game was rather eventful from start to finish.
How it started. How it’s going.
(h/t @Rebel_14) pic.twitter.com/C1y8S3EQ7I
— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) October 24, 2020
A look at Rutgers fans celebrating the Scarlet Knights’ first touchdown of 2020 at a watch party in New Brunswick courtesy of @AndyMills_NJ pic.twitter.com/xJpIpXp5DF
— Keith Sargeant (@KSargeantNJ) October 24, 2020
Rutgers scored 51 points in B1G play all of last year. They have 28 in the first half against MSU (or 55% of their total from a year ago)
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 24, 2020
Rutgers forced 7 turnovers in 9 Big Ten games last season. They scored 27 points in their last 14 Big Ten quarters. They've forced 5 turnovers and scored 28 points in 33 minutes today. Greg Schiano must be a wizard. (And Chris Ash was that bad) https://t.co/1cbqpvWj0Q
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) October 24, 2020
Rough stretch here for Rutgers. Fumbles on a punt, MSU recovers. Then a 30-yard TD pass. Spartans cut Rutgers' lead to 28-20.
— Chris Iseman (@ChrisIseman) October 24, 2020
Now a Rutgers fumble and Michigan State recovers. Spartans take over at Rutgers' 28. Brutal stretch for RU.
— Chris Iseman (@ChrisIseman) October 24, 2020
Rutgers starting quarterback Noah Vedral finished the game 18-of-29 for 168 yards and one touchdown pass. He also carried the ball eight times for 20 yards and ran for a touchdown.
Rutgers running back Isaih Pacheco rushed the ball 21 times for only 62 yards. However, he did score two big touchdowns to help his team get the win. Johnny Langan and Shameen Jones were the other Rutgers players to reach the end zone against the Spartans.
For Michigan State, quarterback Rocky Lombardi threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns. However, he was picked off two times by the Rutgers defense.
Wideouts Jayden Reed and Jalen Nailor caught the touchdown passes from Lombardi, with Reed grabbing two. However, it wasn’t enough for the Spartans to take down the Scarlet Knights to open the season.
Rutgers will look to improve to 2-0 on the season next week against the Indiana Hoosiers, while Michigan State will face the Michigan Wolverines in what is one of the biggest rivalries in college football. The Spartans will be underdogs in that game since Michigan is a ranked team.
The Wolverines will play later on Saturday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Big Ten Conference unveiled its 2020 football season back in September to kick off in late October and play out a conference-only schedule ending by Dec. 19.