EAST LANSING, Mich. -

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Junior running back Shaun Wick finished with 85 yards rushing and one touchdown, but the University of Wyoming football team suffered a 56-14 defeat at the hands of No. 9 Michigan State on Saturday.

Senior quarterback Colby Kirkegaard threw for 188 yards and one TD, but the MSU defense limited Wyoming to just two scores all day. Wick's 57-yard touchdown gallop drew UW to within one score at 14-7 early in the first quarter, but the Pokes couldn't overcome six-straight scoring drives from MSU in the first half.

In front of a crowd of 74,227 in Spartan Stadium, Wyoming (3-2 overall, 1-0 Mountain West) fell behind early to Michigan State (3-1 overall) and couldn't overcome MSU's 533 total yards. Mistakes plagued the Pokes, as well, with UW turning the ball over three times and committing five penalties. UW tallied 286 yards, gaining 11 first downs. The Spartans rolled their way to 338 yards on the ground en route to 25 first downs.

The Spartans struck early, opening the game with a 78-yard drive to go up 7-0 with 11:11 left in the first quarter. After a UW three-and-out, MSU put up another TD to increase the lead to 14-0 with 5:47 remaining.

Wick then provided a Wyoming highlight in the first quarter as he busted through the line of scrimmage on a third-down play, broke a tackle and rumbled in from 57 yards out. His score made it 14-7 with 2:40 to go in the first quarter. After four-straight scoring drives from MSU, Wyoming took over with just 1:24 to go in the first half and drove 75 yards, finishing with a 4-yard scoring toss from Kirkegaard to senior tight end J.D. Krill with 42 ticks left on the clock. That made the halftime score 42-14.

Defensively, UW was led by senior cornerback Blair Burns, who had a career-high 10 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Lucas Wacha and junior defensive end Eddie Yarbrough each posted nine tackles.

UW will be off this weekend and will hit the road for the next contest, an Oct. 11 matchup at Mountain West foe Hawai'i.