Michigan Seems to Be Running on Empty : Big Ten: Michigan State stops Wheatley in a 17-7 victory over the : No. 9 Wolverines.

Michigan State’s defense overwhelmed Michigan and the nation’s leading all-purpose runner, Tyrone Wheatley, in the Spartans’ 17-7 victory over the No. 9 Wolverines Saturday.

Wheatley was held to 33 yards rushing in 11 carries, which was the total of Michigan’s rushing offense. Michigan State, 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, sacked Todd Collins three times for 30 yards and recovered a first-quarter fumble by Wheatley to set the tone for the rest of the game.

Michigan State hasn’t started a season 3-1 since 1979.

Michigan (3-2, 1-1) had won 10 of the previous 11 meetings in East Lansing. Michigan State’s lone home win in that stretch came in 1987 when the Spartans won the Big Ten championship and defeated USC in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan State, which hasn’t started 3-1 since 1979, led 17-0 at halftime, making it the first time since 1987 that the Wolverines were scoreless at the break.

Brice Abrams, a 254-pound fullback primarily used as a blocker, scored his first touchdown of the season, quarterback Jim Miller threw to Scott Greene for a 3-yard scoring play, and Bill Stoyanovich kicked a 47-yard field goal to account for the Michigan State scoring.

The field goal was set up when Wheatley was stripped of the ball at the Michigan 30-yard line on a kickoff return.

Collins, who completed 17 of 23 for 212 yards, threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Alexander in the third quarter.