MI State QB Cook leaves with arm injury

Connor Cook left at halftime with an apparent shoulder problem, but the 14th-ranked Spartans shut down the Terrapins for a 24-7 victory on Saturday. “It hurts. It really does”.

“The biggest thing for MI State, if Connor Cook can play in this game, which he should be able to because he didn’t play in the second half (against Maryland), they’ve got to protect him”, May, a former NFL offensive lineman and Outland Trophy victor, said on ESPN’s College Football Sunday show.

The Spartans (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) have been dealing with injuries all season, particularly on the offensive line and in the secondary, but if Cook is limited, MI State could be a significant underdog against the unbeaten Buckeyes. Former starter Madre London did return for the first time since injuring a leg October 10 at Rutgers, but he didn’t see much action.

“I think it’s going to be a low-scoring game, (and) I think it’s going to be a very physical game”, May said. Maryland is a 2-8 football team.

Cook was only 6 of 20 for 77 yards with an interception.

By the time Bullough stepped a little to his right, intercepted the helpless ball and went 44 yards to the end zone with the nation-worst 26th interception of Maryland quarterbacks, the game had changed its tone.

Maryland’s passing game wasn’t any better.

O’Connor led MI State’s first scoring drive in a series that was planned for him to play, coming before the Cook injury. Hills was 14 of 30 for 140 yards with an interception, and Caleb Rowe had two of his five attempts picked off. After another interception, the Spartans kicked a field goal to go into the locker room up 17-7.

Maryland actually had a sparkling 91-yard drive to tie it, the highlights including Hills’s 37-yard pass to Levern Jacobs, and blocks from Andrew Stefanelli and Kenneth Goins Jr. on Brandon Ross’s one-yard touchdown run.

■No name for this one: MSU seems to have lost its touch with special-teams fakes, and a fake field goal in the second quarter against Maryland was hopeless.

Gerald Holmes scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter for MI State, which rebounded from its last-second loss at Nebraska the previous weekend but now faces a number of new questions before taking on Ohio State. Left tackle Jack Conklin was being beaten several times by Yannick Ngakoue, who’s looking to become Maryland’s single season sacks leader. The school’s season record is 13 by Mark Duda in 1982 and Bruce Palmer in 1978.