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CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Lloyd Clemons rushed for a career-high 141 yards and freshman T.J. Duckett scored twice as No. 21 Michigan State dumped previously unbeaten Illinois, 27-10, in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. Clemons, who carried 20 times, eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the third time in his four career starts. He previous best was 128 yards in last week's 23-13 victory over Notre Dame. Gaining all but 22 of Michigan State's 163 net rushing yards, Clemons helped set up Duckett's short touchdown runs of two yards in the second quarter and six yards in the final period. Duckett gained just 29 yards on 10 attempts. Overcoming a strong performance by Illinois quarterback Kirt Kittner, Michigan State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) opened with four straight wins for just the second time since 1966. The Spartans started 5-0 in 1997. Paul Edinger kicked a pair of 45-yard field goals in the second half for the Spartans, who denied Illinois (3-1, 0-1) its first 4-0 start since 1951. Michigan State controlled the line of scrimmage, allowing just eushing 42 yards on 34 attempts. "Our run defense made a couple of key plays," Michigan State linebacker Josh Thornhill said. "They caught us a couple times on underneath routes. It was a tough day but we got through it." Michigan State committed four turnovers, including three interceptions by Bill Burke, but the Illini could not take advantage of the mistakes despite outgaining the Spartans, 365-315. "It's the best defense we've seen," Kittner said. "They stopped our run and had a tough pass defense." "Without a running game, we couldn't pick up yardage on first down and that made it tough," Illinois coach Ron Turner added. We had several second-and-longs today." After going 3-8 last season, the Illini opened with wins over Arkansas State, San Diego State and Louisville. But they found the competition tougher in their first conference game, managing only Neil Rackers' 44-yard field goal through the first three periods. Kittner, The Big Ten co-Offensive Player of the Week, completed 30-of-54 passes for 323 yards but could not get the Illini in the end zone until tossing a one-yard TD pass to Elmer Hickman with 7:32 remaining. Dean Mitchell had eight receptions for 129 yards for Illinois. "We don't want to take anything away from their quarterback but we blew a couple of big assignments," Thornhill said. After a scoreless opening period, Michigan State grabbed a 7-0 lead on Duckett's two-yard TD run with 12:38 remaining in the first half. Rackers got the Illini on the board just under three minutes later but Bill Burke threw a 22-yard TD pass to Ivory McCoy midway through the second period to give the Spartans a 14-3 halftime edge. Burke tossed a TD pass in his eighth straight game but completed just 12-of-25 for 152 yards. "We were lacking consistency overall on offense," Burke said. "I didn't play as well as I can. My accuracy hasn't been as sharp as has in the past." After the Spartans punted on their first three possessions in the quarter, Burke engineered scoring drives of 46 and 80 yards in the second period. However, Michigan State sputtered on offense as its next three drived resulted in turnovers. The Spartans put away the contest early in the fourth quarter, marching 80 yards on 12 plays to take a 24-3 lead on Duckett's six-yard TD run with 7:32 to play. Michigan State posted its fifth straight win over Illinois, inreasing its lead in the all-time series to 19-16-2. The Spartans improved to 6-3-1 in conference openers in the 1990s, including a 6-1-1 mark over the last eight years.
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