ended his innings with a review. Chris Woakes thought he had Parthiv caught down the leg side. Marais Erasmus agreed and raised the finger. Parthiv called for DRS immediately and gestured to his hip as he s

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The last time Michigan State lost two games in a row was in 2012, part of a disappointing year in which the Spartans barely qualified for a bowl.Its happened again over the past couple of weekends, but theres still time for Mark Dantonios team to limit the damage.If you saw the 2012 situation, it mirrored some things that are going on right now and the fact that youve got to get off the field on third down, youve got to play well in the kicking game, youve got to make third-down conversions, said Dantonio, who is in his 10th season as Michigan States coach. When you dont ... then you come up inches short.The Spartans fell out of the Top 25 after losses to Wisconsin and Indiana, and theyll host Brigham Young in a tricky nonconference matchup Saturday. Michigan State hasnt lost three in a row since early in the 2009 season.BYU (2-3) is coming off a wild 55-53 win over Toledo in which Jamaal Williams set a single-game school record with 286 yards rushing. He also ran for five touchdowns.Hes got great vision. Jamaal does a great job of setting up blocks, Cougars coach Kalani Sitake said. Going into the season, we thought hes a special one. Hes going to have to have a lot of big games like that to help us win.Williams ranks second in the nation with 703 yards rushing on the season.Weve got to play defense like we know how to play, got to tackle in space, got to cover down the field, Dantonio said. They can run the football, been productive, but other people have held them down as well. Theyve had low-scoring games as well -- two of them in the teens, one of them in the 20s, and a couple of them higher. So well see what we get.Michigan State is 12th in the Big Ten in stopping third downs. Opponents have converted 40 percent of the time.Here are a few things to watch when the Spartans (2-2) host the Cougars:QB QUESTIONSTyler OConnor threw three interceptions in Michigan States 30-6 loss to Wisconsin a couple weekends ago. He threw three TD passes last weekend against Indiana, but that was all the scoring the offense managed.BYUs Taysom Hill has thrown only five touchdown passes with six interceptions this season.PENALTY PROBLEMSMichigan State lost 24-21 at Indiana in overtime. The Hoosiers actually missed a field goal on their overtime possession, but they got another chance after a leaping penalty on the Spartans.Michigan State is averaging 74.5 yards a game in penalties, over 20 yards more than its opponents.LEADERBYUs Kai Nacua is tied for the national lead with four interceptions, and he has 12 in his career. That said, the Cougars have work to do defensively after playing such a high-scoring game against Toledo.Toledo put up too many points and we felt like we could have done better, defensive back Dayan Lake said. It was a disappointing game for us and we have a lot of improvement to do. Were going to work on that. We need to execute. We need to trust our speed.SERIES OPENERMichigan State and BYU are facing each other for the first time. The Spartans are scheduled to play a return game with the Cougars in Provo, Utah, in 2020.SUSPENSIONMalik McDowell, a standout defensive lineman for Michigan State, is suspended for the first half against BYU because he was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter against Indiana.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtristerAsics Outlet Store Online . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Asics Shoes Discount Online . 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Expecting a run from there betrayed that he was playing Test cricket for the first time in eight years. And so for a few seconds he looked like a wind-up toy; wandering forward and wobbling back.For the rest of the morning, he looked like a man with his captain and coachs backing along with the confidence of five 50-plus scores in his last six first-class matches.Parthivs contribution to Indias total may at first glance seem small - 42 runs off 85 balls, collected in typical fashion through drives both pretty and flash, and cuts and flicks often delicate and precise. There was nothing new to talk about - Gautam Gambhir had provided a talking point with his open stance - and nothing spectacular about Parthivs innings to warrant making space in the memory banks. He came, did his job, and might well disappear into the fabric of Indian cricket history. But he would be damned if he went without showing his value as a cricketer.Prior to the start of the Test, KL Rahul, the specialist opener, had injured his left forearm in the nets and the team did not have any back-ups. That may have meant shoving Cheteshwar Pujara up the order - as had happened on a seaming track in Colombo 2015 - but he has been in outstanding form at No. 3. The new man in the XI - Karun Nair - was a debutant and he has played in the middle order all his domestic career. Virat Kohli has never batted at the top before and Ajinkya Rahane might have preferred the comfort of his usual No. 5 position given his lack of runs in this series.That left Parthiv - the second-oldest player in the side - to keep wicket and then promptly come back to face James Anderson and company. He would have practiced for the position of No. 6 or 7 leading up to the match, but with one days notice he was asked to do something vastly different. It is because of this willingness to do a tough job that so many teams -- six IPL franchises included - like him.ddddddddddddSure, that also indicates how often he hasnt been retained in the same set up, but theres always someone willing to make a bid for him. India went into Mohali with their sixth set of openers since the tour of Sri Lanka last year. Their bowlers had performed admirably, having lost the toss, to restrict England to 283 on a decent pitch. That was still runs on the board though, with the experts predicting batting to get more difficult with the passing of time. Parthiv, by lasting 26 overs, and playing as he usually does, proved to the rest of his team-mates - all of whom made their debuts after his last Test in August 2008 - that all was well. A man with his technique - impulsive on the drive and iffy on the pull - couldnt have prospered without making any adjustments if the surface had demons.He got off the mark with a neat clip to the square-leg boundary and extended his innings with a review. Chris Woakes thought he had Parthiv caught down the leg side. Marais Erasmus agreed and raised the finger. Parthiv called for DRS immediately and gestured to his hip as he strode down the pitch. Replays confirmed neither bat nor glove was involved and Kumar Dharmasena, in a simple slip of the tongue, instructed his partner to stay with your on-field decision.It appears jokes just follow Parthiv, and if they cant land him, they go after the next sucker. He couldnt avoid them forever though. In the 21st over, he lost grip of his bat as he fended at a short ball. Before he could reorient himself, his partner M Vijay had called for a single, and like any number of cartoon characters with their backsides on fire he ran his legs off. Anil Kumble was seen indulging in good-natured laughter. Last November, Parthiv was quite happy to troll himself, tweeting a picture of his food and tagging it even the dosa is taller than me. At the PCA stadium, India were taller because of him. ' ' '