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 State’s 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 weren’t 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 — his first career carry — 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.