Gray mostly watches final home game

MarQueis Gray took the first snap of the game Saturday, but it was either a tease or a tribute. Because the senior quarterback -- former quarterback -- mostly watched once more, his final collegiate home game ending with the same sort of disappointment he's grown accustomed to by now.

"I don't know. I was just dazed by all those three-and-outs," said Gray, who took a half-dozen snaps, to little effect. He threw one pass, but it was knocked to the ground. He tucked the ball and ran five times and was plowed under every time, finishing with 4 yards. He never caught a pass, never made a big play, never got to lead the way he has prepared for since high school.

Never even fooled the Michigan State defense. "Oh yeah, without a doubt," Gray said when asked if the Spartans were waiting for him to run. "They figured out, as soon as I was in at quarterback, to load up the box" with tacklers.

Gray was supposed to get more than one series at quarterback, he said, a reprise of the Gophers' "wildcat" look that produced two rushing touchdowns for him a week ago at Nebraska. But the offense was sputtering so badly, that plan was scrapped in favor of a pass-first approach.

And that didn't work, either, not against a Michigan State defense that, despite its 6-6- record, leads the Big Ten in fewest yards and points allowed. "We knew that they have a great [defensive] line and they'd be able to get push and collapse the pocket," said freshman Philip Nelson, who completed 10 of 23 passes for 61 yards, with three interceptions. That's nearly an exact match for his 10-23, 59-yard performance in Nebraska last week. "That's where you've got to be able, on the run, to make plays and figure things out."

In the fourth quarter, with the Gophers trailing by 16, acting coach Tracy Claeys sent in backup quarterback Max Shortell, figuring that the sophomore has more experience against a blitzing defense, but his two possessions ended in a punt and an interception.

Big Ten rushing race The Gophers played no favorites in the Big Ten rushing race, though they may have had an effect on the outcome.

"It was the best game I think I've ever seen him play," said Spartans quarterback Andrew Maxwell. "He had the hot hand, and the offensive line was physically dominant up front."

Bell carried the ball on eight consecutive plays during the Spartans' game-clinching drive, the final rush an 8-yard touchdown in which he simply waited for traffic to clear in front of him, then stepped resolutely across the goal line for the touchdown.