No. 18 Iowa stomps No. 5 Michigan State 37-6

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa emphatically knocked Michigan State off the pile of unbeaten teams.

Ricky Stanzi threw three touchdown passes and the 18th-ranked Hawkeyes handed the fifth-ranked Spartans their first loss, stomping the Spartans 37-6 on Saturday.

Adam Robinson added a pair of touchdowns for the charged-up Hawkeyes, who rolled out to a 30-0 halftime lead and dealt a crushing blow to the Spartans national title hopes.

Iowa (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) jumped ahead 17-0 when Micah Hyde went 66 yards after taking a pitch from safety Tyler Sash, who had picked off a pass.

Sash. Stanzi then found Robinson for a 32-yard TD pass, and Robinson's 2-yard touchdown run put the Hawkeyes ahead by 30 with 1:01 left in the first half.

Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions for the Spartans (8-1, 4-1), who were trying to move to 9-0 for the first time since winning a share of the national title in 1966.

Michigan State can likely forget about that this year, but the Big Ten title is still up for grabs, and Iowa is in the middle of the race, too.

It was the second time in three years the Hawkeyes ended a rival's unbeaten season at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa stunned then-No. 3 Penn State 24-23 in 2008 to keep the Nittany Lions out of the national title picture.

The win over Penn State was an upset that went down to the final seconds, though. This one was a blowout from the beginning.

Iowa opened with an impressive 80-yard drive capped by a 3-yard TD pass from Stanzi to Colin Sandeman. Mike Meyer added a 37-yard field goal that put the Hawkeyes ahead 10-0 before the Spartans had a first down.

Sash and Hyde then teamed up for the play of the season for Iowa.

Sash jumped a route and picked off Cousins' pass at the Iowa 28. Sash immediately chucked the ball back to Hyde, who cut across the length of the field and stretched for the pylon at the end to put Michigan State behind 17-0 for the second week in a row.

The Spartans kept their unbeaten season alive by rallying to beat Northwestern 35-27.

This time, it only got worse.