Under windy and rainy conditions, Michigan State defeated Purdue, 24-17, Friday night at Spartan Stadium.

MSU improves to 5-6 (3-5 Big Ten) with the win, while Purdue falls to 1-10 (0-8 Big Ten). The Spartans will look to become bowl eligible next Saturday on Senior Day against Rutgers.

Fifth-year senior Montorie Foster Jr. caught four passes for 59 yards, including a 7-yard TD in the first quarter, to lead the Spartan wide receivers. Sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 15 of his 31 throws for 159 yards and two touchdowns, marking his second straight game with multiple TD passes.

Sixth-year graduate senior Kay'ron Lynch-Adams paced the Spartans on the ground with 18 carries for 85 yards and had 103 all-purpose yards after also catching three passes for 18 yards. Redshirt junior running back Nate Carter scored two touchdowns with a 2-yard run and then a 20-yard catch in the second quarter and finished with 47 all-purpose yards (32 receiving, 15 rushing).

Defensively, fifth-year graduate senior cornerback Ed Woods tied his career high and had a season-high nine tackles. The Spartans recorded three sacks and nine tackles for loss in the game, as 10 different players had at least a half tackle for loss. Fifth-year graduate defensive back Angelo Grose had a 10-yard sack with six tackles overall, while sixth-year graduate defensive end Khris Bogle had five tackles and an 11-yard sack.

Fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Turner recorded his second interception of the season and fifth of his career to go along with a 1-yard TFL and three stops overall.

Purdue outgained Michigan State, 338-293, but the Spartans won the turnover battle, 2-0, with Turner's interception and a fumble recovery by Maverick Hansen in the second quarter. MSU did hold the Boilermakers to a season-low minus-4 yards rushing.

"Obviously pleased to find a way to win a game," said MSU head coach Jonathan Smith. "A kind of tale of two halves and in the first half, really pleased. I think we had four possessions in the first half and points on all four of them. Then ended the half with some points, so we're feeling good there, but then it totally flipped in the second half.

"Credit to Purdue, whether it's some adjustments or things like that, but they battled for all four quarters. And credit some to our defense too. The early second half, gave up a couple of scores there, but found a way in the fourth quarter to tighten things down and to give us 17 points and have two turnovers defensively, that's a solid effort. Offensively, we again, got to play for four quarters and we want to do that better, but found a way to win a game. We got another home game with a lot to play for next week."

GAME SUMMARY
Although Purdue kicked a field goal on its opening series, Michigan State stormed back to score 24 unanswered points in the first half, scoring on all four of its possessions to take a 24-3 halftime lead.

Foster scored the first TD for the Spartans, catching a 7-yard pass in the end zone from Chiles to cap an 11-play, 75-yard drive. Jonathan Kim connected on a 43-yard field goal at the 12:07 mark in the second quarter to make it 10-3 in favor of the Spartans.

MSU took advantage of a Purdue defensive pass interference penalty on its third drive to get into the end zone for the second time, as Nate Carter ran in from 2 yards out midway through the second quarter.

Carter scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on a 20-yard reception from Chiles, with just 41 seconds left in the half as the Spartans marched 84 yards on 10 plays in just 1:55 to make it 24-3 at the break.

Purdue scored its first TD on Devin Mockobee's 2-yard run at the 5:49 mark in the third quarter, and cut the Spartan lead to 24-17 on Hudson Card's 7-yard pass to Max Klare early in the fourth quarter.

With the Boilermakers driving midway through the fourth, Turner intercepted a tipped pass at the Spartan 31-yard line for MSU's second forced turnover of the game, but the Spartans were forced to punt on the ensuing series. Michigan State then forced a turnover on downs at the Purdue 47 with 3:04 left to play, and ran out the clock after converting two first downs to seal the win. With MSU facing a fourth-and-1 from the Boilermaker 28-yard line at the 2:00 mark, Chiles rushed up the middle for 1 yard and the first down, then kneeled down twice to end the game.

UP NEXT
Michigan State hosts Rutgers for Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 3:30 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. The game will be televised on FS1.