EAST LANSING, Michigan (Ticker) -- John L. Smith is quickly making his mark at Michigan State.
Jeff Smoker threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter as Michigan State grabbed an early lead and coasted to a 20-10 Big Ten Conference upset of undermanned and ninth-ranked Iowa.
Smoker threw TD passes to Ziehl Kavanaght and tight end tight end Eric Knott as Michigan State (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) led after 15 minutes for the first time this season and won the conference opener for both teams.
"This is a tremendous start," Smoker said. "We had a pretty good preseason. You always want to start out with a win when you go into the conference. And to get one against Iowa is a good start."
The 6-3 Smoker completed 11 of his first 12 passes and finished 28-of-44 for 218 yards as the Spartans posted their second notable win in as many weeks under first-year coach Smith, who came to East Lansing after five years at Louisville.
The Spartans won at Notre Dame last week.
Iowa quarterback Nathan Chandler was without his top two receivers and faced heavy pressure all game. Chandler was just 11-of-23 for 158 yards with a touchdown and an interception as the Hawkeyes (4-1, 0-1) failed in a bid to open a season with five straight wins for the first time since 1995.
The Spartans sacked Chandler five times and recovered three of Iowa's five fumbles.
"They certainly didn't help us," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of the turnovers. "We got beat at our own game today. Michigan State did a good job of protecting the football, and conversely they knocked it out and got it loose. Turnovers are a big, big part of any football game. With the kind of football team we are, they are major."
Maurice Brown, Iowa's leading receiver, is expected to be sidelined until late October with an ankle injury and another receiver, Ed Hinkel, is sidelined with a pulled groin muscle.
Michigan State improved to 9-8-1 all time against the Hawkeyes.
Fred Russell rushed 23 times for 122 yards for Iowa, which had won 10 consecutive Big Ten games.
Smoker was 7-of-7 on Michigan State's first possession, which ended with him firing a 17-yard pass to Kavanaght in the right side of the end zone just over four minutes into the contest.
"That was huge," Smith said. "We get the first one and then we got a turnover, and good things happen. If you win the turnover battle good things usually do happen I'm proud of our team. Our coaches put together a darn good plan. We felt like we executed it pretty well to begin with. We made some adjustments and we got a turnover and gosh we got some scores."
Iowa's first fumble came on its first possession. Ramon Ochoa, starting in place of Brown, coughed up the ball after catching an 11-yard pass from Chandler and safety Jason Harmon recovered at the Hawkeyes 41. Six plays later, Smoker found Knott in the middle of the end zone for a seven-yard TD to make it 14-0 with 7:24 remaining in the opening quarter.
"We have to get our respect back," Harmon said. "We have to let everyone know that Michigan State is going to come back. We're not going to give up like we did last year and make the mistakes like we did. We're coming out serious as a team."
The Hawkeyes cut the deficit in half when Chandler tossed a six-yard pass to tight end Mike Follett four seconds into the second quarter.
Iowa drove to the Spartans 38 late in the second quarter, but linebacker Seth Mitchell recovered a fumble by Chandler and returned it 21 yards. Dave Rayner kicked a 23-yard field goal 19 seconds before halftime to give Michigan State a 17-7 lead.
The Hawkeyes closed within 10 points when Nate Kaeding kicked a 23-yard field goal 2:38 into the third. Iowa held Michigan State scoreless on three straight possessions, but saw its chances of further trimming the deficit end when Chandler was sacked for a 14-yard loss at the Iowa 40 in the closing seconds of the third.
Michigan State's third fumble recovery of the game came at the Iowa 18 early in the fourth. Rayner kicked a 20-yard field goal for the final margin with 10:27 left.
