EAST LANSING, Mich. – After Saturday’s game against Michigan State, Ron Turner had nothing but praise for the heart of the Illinois football team.

But as the Illini head coach and his squad are learning, heart doesn’t win games, and the Spartans had no trouble defeating the Illini 38-25.

“We’re very frustrated,” Turner said. “I know how much these guys care, I know how important it is to these guys, I know the way they work, and prepare and stay together, and we’re not getting the results. It’s hard, it’s hard for these guys. I know they care.”

Michigan State’s offense attacked behind quarterback Drew Stanton, who threw for three touchdowns and caught another in only his third career start.

The sophomore has jumped out as the Spartans’ team leader this season. Saturday he showed why, going 21 of 28 throwing 199 yards against the Illini.

He also ran for 37 yards on 11 carries, and managed a touchdown on a reception from wide receiver Jerramy Scott.

Illinois never found that kind of leadership.

Starting running back E.B. Halsey strained his MCL in the second quarter, leaving fellow sophomore Pierre Thomas to fill the position. Thomas stood out with 189 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough.

“In the first half we’ve got to get the stops defensively on the third down and we’ve got to convert on third down,” Turner said.

The loss drops the Illini to 2-4 and 0-3 in the Big Ten, one win over where they stood at this point last season.

For a team that hasn’t won a conference matchup since 2002, this loss was as bitter as ever.

“In this league, in football, you don’t get points, you don’t get wins for being close,” quarterback Jon Beutjer said. “We need to clean up a lot of things to get wins.”

When Beutjer was sacked late in the second quarter, things took a turn for the worse.

“It was very poor execution,” Turner said. “They brought out two linebackers, we should have had them picked up; one guy responsible for blocking the linebackers released and let the linebacker go.”

The Illini managed only one touchdown behind Beutjer, while the Spartans tallied three TDs and a field goal in the first half.

Turner pulled Beutjer from the game at halftime, looking for a player who would have more success passing. He did not find that in Chris Pazan, who went 5 for 11 passing, compared to Beutjer’s 10 of 14.

“We need to make more plays on the passing game, both quarterbacks and receivers, and protection-wise,” Turner said. “We did some good things on the running game; we’ve got to make some good plays on the passing game.”

Illinois got a boost when Brandon Fields fumbled the hold on a Michigan PAT attempt, which Illini cornerback Kelvin Hayden recovered for the two-point conversion.

“At first I thought it was going to be called a dead ball, so I just thought I was running. I was about to stop,” Hayden said. “Then I looked back and thought, ‘let me just get to the end zone.'”

It looked like the game might turn around when the Illini scored two minutes into the third quarter behind Pierre Thomas’ 69-yard rush. But the Spartans answered with six minutes, 18 seconds left in the third, as Stanton connected with Agim Shabaj on a 27-yard pass into the end zone.

Illinois fought back with a touchdown in the fourth, but Michigan State managed another touchdown and sealed the game.

What does that mean for the Illini, who haven’t beaten the Spartans in 12 years?

“I keep telling them we’re going to be a good football team, and I still believe we are, hopefully sooner rather than later,” Turner said. “We’ve got to take advantage of opportunities and just keep staying together, keep fighting, keep believing.”