Michigan State Football :: Official Athletic Site

Sept. 21, 1996

Redman's Three Touchdowns Lift MSU Over Louisville 30-20

Freshman Chris Redman threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns to lift Louisville to a 30-20 victory over Michigan State in the Spartans' first game since being placed on NCAA probation.

Redman came in the first quarter after Jason Payne suffered an arm injury in the first quarter and rallied the Cardinals (2-2) from a 10-0 halftime deficit.

Redman threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Sam Madison early in the third quarter and found running back Donnell Gordon for a 45-yard scoring strike less than three minutes later. A two-point conversion pass gave the Cardinals a 14-10 lead.

Redman, who completed 18-of-27 passes, added a one-yard TD pass to Ibn Green early in the fourth quarter for a 21-13 lead. The Cardinals tacked on a safety and a seven-yard touchdown run by Gordon for a 17-point cushion.

Gordon carried 23 times for 97 yards and caught six passes for 84 more.

Gus Ornstein, a transfer from Notre Dame making his first collegiate start for the Spartans (1-2), threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason in the final minute. Ornstein completed 21 of 37 for 325 yards and three scores.

Spartans defensive end Dimitrius Underwood scored on a 33-yard fumble return for the first score.

Earlier this week, Michigan State's football program was placed on four years probation for rules violations, losing scholarships and recruiting visits but retaining the ability to play in bowl games and on television.

NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        LOUISVILLE            0    0   14   16      30
        MICHIGAN ST           0   10    3    7      20   FINAL
        SCORING SUMMARY
        1ST QTR: NONE
        2ND QTR: MICS - TD, DIMITRIUS UNDERWOOD 33 YD FUMBLE RETURN (CHRIS
                            GARDNER KICK), 6:13
                 MICS - FG, CHRIS GARDNER 26 YD, 15:00
        3RD QTR: LVIL - TD, SAM MADISON 51 YD PASS FROM CHRIS REDMAN (PAT
                            FAILED), 4:03
                 LVIL - TD, DONNELL GORDON 45 YD PASS FROM CHRIS REDMAN
                            (MIGUEL MONTANO RECEPTION FOR TWO-POINT
                            CONVERSION), 6:59
                 MICS - FG, CHRIS GARDNER 29 YD, 12:04
        4TH QTR: LVIL - TD, IBN GREEN 1 YD PASS FROM CHRIS REDMAN (DAVID
                            AKERS KICK), 1:32
                 LVIL - SAFETY, 11:50
                 LVIL - TD, DONNELL GORDON 7 YD RUN (DAVID AKERS KICK),
                            12:58
                 MICS - TD, DERRICK MASON 17 YD PASS FROM GUS ORNSTEIN
                            (CHRIS GARDNER KICK), 14:17
                                                                        
NCAAF                 1  2  3  4   F 
                      -  -  -  -  -- 
Louisville            0  0 14 16  30 
Michigan St           0 10  3  7  20  FINAL 
 Michigan St-Underwood 33 fumble return (Gardner kick)
 Michigan St-FG Gardner 26
 Louisville-Madison 51 pass from Redman (kick failed)
 Louisville-Gordon 45 pass from Redman (Montano reception for
            two-point conversion)
 Michigan St-FG Gardner 29
 Louisville-Green 1 pass from Redman (Akers kick)
 Louisville-Safety
 Louisville-Gordon 7 run (Akers kick)
 Michigan St-D Mason 17 pass from Ornstein (Gardner kick)
                     Louisville Michigan St 
First downs                  14          20 
Rushed-yards              36-52       40-70 
Passing yards               348         237 
Sacked-yards lost          4-37        4-29 
Return yards                 56          11 
Passes                  21-32-0     21-37-1 
Punts                   10-40.0      9-37.8 
Fumbles-lost                4-2         0-0 
Penalties-yards          14-135        7-29 
Time of possession        27:26       32:34

Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Louisville-Gordon 23-83, Floyd 4-9, Charisika 3-5, Payne 1-minus 11, Redman 5-minus 34. Michigan St-Goulbourne 19-73, Irvin 16-25, Crenshaw 1-1, Ornstein 4-minus 29.

PASSING: Louisville-Redman 18-27-0-325, Payne 3-5-0-23. Michigan St-Ornstein 21-37-1-237.

RECEIVING: Louisville-Gordon 6-84, Green 5-60, Montano 4-32, Madison 2-122, Bogan 2-32, Floyd 1-13, Purry 1-5. Michigan St-D Mason 8-141, Irvin 6-48, Goulbourne 4-27, N Carter 2-10, Keur 1-11.

Att: 70,311

Quotes From Msu Head Coach Nick Saban

Obviously we are very disappointed, not to take anything away from Louisville's football team I think they played an outstanding game today. They certainly deserved to win the way they played. I don't think we had enough consistency on offense to sustain things during the game and score the kind of points that I think we need to be able to score and obviously in the second half on defense we lost our poise, we gave up three big plays...passes that guys caught and ran for big plays which led to 21 points which basically was the difference in the game.

We had opportunities to make the plays and we made mental mistakes and didn't get it done. I'm not really satisfied with the results that we got today. The critical thing for this football team right now is to make a decision about what they do with the results that they got. We need to get re-committed to a standard of excellence that is going to allow us to play the kind of football that we're going to be able to win football games down the road that we have an opportunity to do. That means preparation, it means discipline, it means better execution, it means playing better together as a team. When things like this happen how you react to it is how much it hurts you and it will be interesting to see how our team reacts because if this hurts them, they will react properly and will improve because of it.

The thing that's most disappointing, in a way, is the poise. (We) played well in the first half, missed a few field goals but had some opportunities to score more points and then in the second half one bad thing happens and it's like there's a whole different aura around the whole team.

I was concerned about the preparation this week. There's no excuses for that. I think there were some distractions this week that probably contributed to the preparation. It might have been the mindset of our team that other things were more important than the task at hand. There are no excuses for poor performance.