COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Jeremy Langford ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 12 Michigan State received a strong performance from its defense in a 37-15 victory over Maryland on Saturday night.
Riley Bullough scored on a 22-yard interception return to help the Spartans (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten, No. 12 CFP) bounce back from last week's disheartening 49-37 loss to Ohio State.
Michigan State picked off three passes, allowed only 6 yards rushing and sacked Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown three times.
Playing in its first season in the Big Ten, Maryland (6-4, 3-3) has lost to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State by a combined 141-46 score.
Langford extended his streak of consecutive 100-yard games against Big Ten opponents to 14, although 68 of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was no longer in doubt.
His second touchdown made it 30-7 with 7:06 left, and a touchdown run by Nick Hill with 3:15 to go enabled Michigan State to set a school record for points in a season (438).
Senior quarterback Connor Cook went 14 for 31 for 240 yards but failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season.
Michigan State set a school record with its ninth consecutive Big Ten road win and remained in contention for the East Division title.
Brown completed 20 of 43 passes for 240 yards. Still, the Terrapins were in the game until Bullough caught a pass deflected by teammate Taiwan Jones and took it into the end zone for a 23-7 lead with 1:06 left in the third quarter.
The Terrapins played without leading receiver Stefon Diggs, who was suspended for one game by the Big Ten for his part in a pregame scuffle at Penn State on Nov. 1.
Despite dropping several passes, flubbing at least two potential interceptions and committing two turnovers, Maryland trailed 9-7 late in the first half before one more glaring error shifted momentum toward the Spartans.
After Keith Mumphery caught a short pass from Cook on the left sideline, Anthony Nixon botched the tackle and Mumphery sprinted 62 yards to the Maryland 3. Langford ran it in from the 8 for a 16-7 lead.
Playing at Maryland for the first time since 1944, the Spartans drew a sellout crowd of 51,802 — a good portion of them dressed in Michigan State green and white.
Early on, it became apparent Brown and the Terrapins would have trouble moving the ball.
After Michigan State's opening possession ended in a punt, Kurtis Drummond dropped a potential interception on Maryland's first offensive play. He made amends on third down, picking off an overthrown pass by Brown to set up a field goal by Michael Geiger.
On the Spartans' next possession, Cook connected with Macgarrett Kings on a 50-yard pass play on third-and-8 from the MSU 13. That led to another field goal.
Although the score didn't accurately illustrate Michigan State's dominance in the first quarter, the statistics did: 143-11 in yardage, 6-0 in first downs and 26-9 in plays.
Geiger's third field goal capped a 41-yard drive and made it 9-0 with 10:42 left in the half.
A 52-yard kickoff return by Will Likely rejuvenated the crowd, and after Brown converted a fourth-and-6, he hit Dan Adams over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown.
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