Big Ten Roundup : White Has Record Day in Michigan State Win

Michigan State tailback Lorenzo White carried the ball 42 times for 223 yards and a touchdown Saturday at Madison, Wis., as the Spartans ended the regular season with a 41-7 victory over Wisconsin.

With his performance, White, a 19-year-old sophomore, set a conference single-season rushing record of 1,908 yards in 386 carries, bettering the mark of 1,764 yards in 336 carries by Keith Byars of Ohio State in 1984.

White also broke the NCAA single-season record for a sophomore, which was 1,891 yards by Herschel Walker of Georgia in 1981.

In addition, he broke Walker’s NCAA rushing record for average yards in a season. White increased his average from 168.5 to 173.01 yards per game Saturday to surpass Walker’s 1981 mark of 171.9.

White’s effort gave him the honor of being the Big Ten’s leading rusher this season and possibly the leading ground-gainer in the nation among NCAA Division I schools.

Only Auburn’s Bo Jackson has a chance of catching White. Jackson, who didn’t play Saturday, has 1,644 yards going into Auburn’s final game next weekend.

“Lorenzo White is the best back in the country,” Michigan State Coach George Perles said. “I hope the voting for the Heisman Trophy isn’t over . . . because he should be strongly considered.”

Michigan State, which ended the regular season at 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play after a fifth consecutive victory, accepted an invitation to play Georgia Tech in the All-American Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Spartan tight end Michael Sargent caught two touchdown passes, while fullback Bobby Morse, flanker Mark Ingram and tailback Craig Johnson each ran for one.

Wisconsin recorded its first losing season since 1980, falling to 5-6 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten.

Purdue 34, Indiana 21--Quarterback Jim Everett passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns to Rodney Carter, and fullback Ray Wallace ran for 140 yards and two more touchdowns to lead the Boilermakers to the win at Bloomington, Ind.

Everett, who completed 22 of 39 attempts, tied a Purdue season record of 23 touchdown passes, and his season total of 3,651 yards is 20 yards short of the Big Ten record held by Illinois’ Tony Eason.

Carter, who broke his nose during the game, caught 9 passes for 113 yards and set Purdue records of 181 career receptions and 1,099 yards this season.

Purdue finished 3-5 in the Big 10 and 5-6 overall. The Hoosiers ended the season with a seven-game losing streak, finishing 1-7 in the Big Ten and 4-7 overall.

Illinois 45, Northwestern 20--Jack Trudeau threw for three touchdowns--two to David Williams--and ran for another to lead the Peach Bowl-bound Illini to the victory at Evanston, Ill.

Thomas Rooks added two touchdowns for Illinois, which finished the regular season 6-4-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the Big Ten. The Illini will meet Army in the Dec. 31 Peach Bowl.

Northwestern finished 3-8 and 1-7 by losing to its intrastate rival for the seventh straight year.