Follow how No. 13 Michigan State plays

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Hello everyone! The Hoosiers On SI live blog is finally ready to launch! No. 13 Indiana looks to improve to 9-0 for the first time in school history when the Hoosiers take on the 4-4 Michigan State Spartans.

As Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said on his radio show Thursday, quarterback Kurtis Rourke is expected to start today. Indiana had no one listed on its injury report before the game.

• Michigan State 10-7, 1209 2Q. The Hoosiers make another three-pointer, but it's thanks to Michigan State cornerback Charles Brantley, who made an acrobatic play to knock the ball away on a deep Indiana route. A really good punt from James Evans puts the Spartans at their own 7.

• Michigan State 10-7, 1311 2Q. You know those candy commercials where things are first sour and then sweet? This is Indiana right now. Shawn Asbury II was called for unnecessary harshness on a tackle for loss, a penalty that helped the Spartans cross midfield. On the next play, as the Indiana sideline received a warning from the officials, a pass from Aidan Chiles was tipped by Aiden Fisher and Amare Ferrell snagged it at the Indiana 30. He returned it to the 45. Hoosiers ball on a strange random variance.

• Michigan State 10-7, 1413 2Q. Indiana returned to its RPO game as Kurtis Rourke masterfully picked the right times to pass and used the danger of the pass to create effective runs for both Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton. For the touchdown, Rourke was patient because Indiana's wide receivers were covered. Zach Horton got free under the secondary and Rourke found him for an easy 17-yard score. This drive was more similar to what Indiana has shown all season.

Indiana touchdown. Zach Horton with a 17-yard touchdown catch.

• End of 1st quarter: Michigan State 10, Indiana 0. Hoosiers on the rise as they find themselves in Michigan State territory for the first time.

• Michigan State 10-0, 239 1Q. A sort of sum total of all fears for the Spartans, who managed 71 yards in 13 plays. Michigan State was able to take advantage of Indiana's pressure on a few screen passes that yielded double-digit yardage. QB Aidan Chiles can run and he has proven it twice to devastating effect. Once when he eluded Lanell Carr Jr. for a 9-yard first down on 3rd-and-8, and again on the touchdown pass when he scrambled to his right and delivered a perfect strike to Marsh on the run . There's a lot for Hoosiers to do.

• Touchdown is confirmed. Indiana exhausted its challenge for the game. Wasn't really close. Not a good challenge from the Hoosiers.

• Michigan State touchdown. QB Aidan Chiles fights through and throws a pass to Nick Marsh on the right side of the end zone. Indiana challenges the game. Marsh tiptoed to the sideline to make the play.

• Michigan State 3-0, 857 2Q. Uncharacteristic failure on third down for the Hoosiers. Miles Cross was wide open on a sideline, but the ball bounced off his hands. I'm not sure if the sun played a role, but the catch must be made. Rare three-pointer in a row for Indiana. The Spartans take over on their own 29.

• Michigan State 3-0, 958 1Q. Indiana Trails! After a series of threes to start the game, Michigan State moved into Indiana territory on a 33-yard catch by Nick Marsh. Indiana kept the Spartans out of the red zone, but Jonathan Kim made a 47-yard field goal to give the Hoosiers their first deficit of the season.

Indiana starters: crime – QB Kurtis Rourke, RB Justice Ellison, WR Myles Price, WR Miles Cross, WR Elijah Sarratt, TE Zach Horton, C Mike Katic, G Bray Lynch, G Drew Evans, T Carter Smith, T Trey Wedig.

defense – LB Aiden Fisher, LB Jailin Walker, EDGE Lanell Carr Jr., DT James Carpenter, DE Mikail Kamara, DT CJ West, DB Terry Jones, CB Jamier Johnson, CB D'Angelo Ponds, S Amare Ferrell, S Shawn Asbury II.

Before the game

• Injuries before the game: No one is listed for Indiana. It's November 2nd and everyone is healthy? Pretty remarkable. No one is significant in the Michigan State report either.

• Indiana loses the toss again. Hoosiers will get the ball first. I think Indiana only won one shot all season. Indiana getting the ball first has worked well all season.

• Fashion Report: Indiana never deviates from its standard uniform. All white with red helmets. Michigan State wears all black. Since green is my favorite color, not a fan.

• I'm proud that I'm at the forefront when it comes to traffic and optimal driving routes, but today I slipped up. I was with my son in Muncie last night to get a head start on the trip. I'm driving on I-69, it's an easy drive to East Lansing, when I see a line of cars in front of me southwest of Lansing around 12:15 p.m. Of course it was right after I passed an exit.

Okay, it's happening. I waited for a while, making progress gradually, as one does in such situations, but then stopped abruptly about a half mile from the next exit. Nothing moved. Apparently there was a fatal accident that closed I-69 in both directions. Finally I got off the highway, but there were already two traffic jams. The original on I-69 and the one caused by the I-69 closure.

In any case, I saw a lot more of “Pure Michigan” than I ever intended. The comedy continued when my alternative route took me to a closed driveway. I ended up driving to Lansing and eventually made my way to the Michigan State University campus via back roads.

I probably lost 90 minutes trying to get around everything. Sigh.

• The old brass spittoon…let's discuss it.

The trophy itself is pretty standard… If you didn't know it was a spittoon you might think it was a cup, but we do know it is a spittoon that is said to have come from a trading post in Michigan Pioneer times in the Midwest.

In a league full of weird trophies, it's at the top of the weird list. A spittoon isn't exactly the first thing I want to own, let alone a possibly used spittoon. Was it actually used? Did it contain the 18th century version of Skoal Bandit?

And what makes a spittoon suitable for Indiana and Michigan? Since the trophy was conceived in the 1950s, surely something automobile could have been used? Maybe Studebaker or Oldsmobile would still exist if the trophy was named after one or the other?

• For me personally, the first time in Spartan Stadium. It's more vertical than I expected. I'm not sure how I imagined it. Some great numbers in retirement in my opinion. Including Kirk Gibson, who I felt a strange dislike for when he played.