EAST LANSING – Katin Houser guided Michigan State football’s offense to midfield on its first drive when a 13-yard throw to Montorie Foster set up a fourth-and-2 decision.

Interim coach Harlon Barnett said go for it. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson called a shotgun handoff. Nathan Carter plowed into the defense, then got pushed forward.

The whistle blew. He was short by a yard.

The Spartans would be short by a mile from there out against No. 2 Michigan, falling 49-0.

Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy methodically dissected MSU’s defense time and again. The Spartans’ offense never got back on track, with Houser throwing a pick-six on their opening drive of the second half as they meagerly limped their way to a fifth straight loss.

And the 49-0 defeat, which got decidedly chippy after Mike Sainristil’s 72-yard interception return for a touchdown, became one of the biggest blowouts in the recent history of the rivalry.

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Notably, it was also the worst loss by the Spartans at home in the 100-year history of Spartan Stadium, topping the 42-0 loss to U-M in 1983.

"They were superior to us tonight," Barnett said. "We got our butts kicked. We gotta learn from it."

MSU had not been shut out in the rivalry since a 14-0 loss in 2000 in Ann Arbor and hadn't been blanked at home by the Wolverines since a 31-0 loss in 1985, featuring then-quarterback Jim Harbaugh.

This was also the largest margin of victory at any location in the 116-game series since U-M’s 55-0 blowout in 1947.

The Wolverines outgained the Spartans 477-182 in the game.

"It is a rivalry. And the hatred we have between each other is real," said Carter. the sophomore MSU running back. "No one wants to lose the way that we lost. Especially to a rival in our house. We have to continue to grow from this and finish out the season strong."

The Spartans (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten) head to Minnesota next Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff (BTN). They have lost two in a row to Michigan and five of the past eight in the rivalry.

"In situations like this, teams that don't have discipline and don't have people to really keep guys together, they can fall apart. And I don't think that's the case with us," said senior linebacker Aaron Brule, who had 11 tackles and a sack. "We just really want to win. And I think we'll eventually take that step."

Middle meltdown

It was 28-0 by the end of the second quarter, but only because the Wolverines (8-0, 5-0) had a false start penalty on Donovan Edwards in the final seconds that negated a touchdown and caused a clock runoff into halftime.

Before that, McCarthy and Harbaugh’s offense demoralized MSU’s defense over the middle one pass at a time. The junior quarterback opened the game 5-for-6 for 74 yards, including a 21-yard pass to tight end A.J. Barner on third-and-14, then another 25-yard completion to receiver Roman Wilson on a crossing route. That set up Blake Corum’s 1-yard TD run three plays later.

After MSU’s turnover on downs, McCarthy continued to expose the Spartans’ linebackers in coverage. Freshman Jordan Hall somehow ended up on Wilson, and McCarthy evaded pressure and threw a laser of a 25-yard touchdown with 1:55 left in the second quarter.

The rout was on.

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The Spartans continued to struggle to cover Michigan’s tight ends, and Colston Loveland caught a pair of McCarthy scoring passes of 22 yards over MSU nickel back Angelo Grose and 21 yards over Cal Haladay in the second quarter. McCarthy connected for an 11-yard score to Barner in the third quarter.

The U-M quarterback finished 21-for-27 for 297 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions before being replaced with a little more than five minutes left in the third quarter by backup Jack Tuttle.

Offensively challenged

Meantime, MSU’s offense couldn’t find a rhythm. And when it did, something disastrous happened.

Carter getting stuffed and Houser’s fourth-down interception for a touchdown capped the longest possessions of the day for the redshirt freshman quarterback making his second collegiate start. Houser finished 12-for-22 with 101 yards and an interception, and five of his nine drives were three-and-out possessions.

Sam Leavitt replaced Houser with 10:22 to play in the fourth quarter and the Wolverines ahead comfortably. The true freshman moved the Spartans 58 yards in 13 plays before turning it over on downs with 5:20 to go, finishing 4-for-7 for 32 yards in his second collegiate appearance, getting picked off on the first play of his second drive with inside four minutes to play.

Noah Kim, who started MSU’s first five games, was in uniform but went through warmups without throwing before kickoff. He appeared to be the No. 4 option, behind Houser, Leavitt and walk-on Andrew Schorfhaar. Barnett said during the week that Kim had been battling an injury but added that Houser would remain his starting QB.

On the ground, the Wolverines bottled up Carter, holding him to just 36 yards on 17 carries. The Spartans ran for 49 yards in the game.

Coming off back-to-back fourth-quarter collapses in road losses at Iowa and Rutgers, Barnett — who took over for the suspended-then-fired Mel Tucker on Sept. 10 — was asked if this was the low point of the season.

"It might be," he said. "I was low last week (at Rutgers), it'd be lower. But you got it you got to shake it off and keep fighting. That's all I know."

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Flag fest

Once U-M had things in hand, the civility began to disappear.

Right tackle Spencer Brown was ejected for a personal foul when he dove with his helmet and hit U-M's Braiden McGregor as he laid on the ground. The Spartans would be called for two penalties on the same play later in the third quarter, an illegal use of the hands to the head by defensive lineman Derrick Harmon and a late hit out of bounds on Dillon Tatum on Corum along the Wolverines' sideline. Harmon was then flagged for a facemask penalty on the next play, setting up McCarthy's fourth and final TD pass.

"We've been shooting ourselves in the foot, honestly," Brule said.

Michigan's DJ Waller was flagged for a late hit out of bounds that sent Leavitt toppling after his 14-yard run on third down in his first drive. U-M had another personal foul and a tripping penalty in the final quarter.

The Spartans' Maverick Hansen was flagged for another personal foul for unnecessary roughness with 30 seconds to play. U-M punched in another TD with 8 seconds left, sealing the worst MSU home loss ever.

MSU finished with 11 penalties for 102 yards. Michigan had seven for 65 yards.

"If we as a team want to get where they are," Carter said, "we have to be able to not have a lot of penalties, we have to be disciplined, we have to be able to capitalize on the little opportunities we have."

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State shut out by Michigan, 49-0, in worst home loss ever