EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State needs to avenge its two defeats from last season to play for the national championship. The Spartans made the first big step on Saturday night, thanks to their young running backs.

True freshman LJ Scott rushed for two second-half touchdowns and redshirt freshman Madre London gained 103 yards to lead Michigan State to a 31-28 victory over Oregon in a matchup of Top 10 teams at Spartan Stadium.

The Spartans lost 46-27 at Oregon last season. Their only other loss was to defending national champion Ohio State.

They'll face the Buckeyes on Nov. 21 in Columbus.

"In my mind, this is a steppingstone game," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. "This is a game that pays dividends at the end of the season."

Scott gained 76 yards on 11 carries for the No. 5 Spartans (2-0) and scored on runs of 6 and 38 yards to answer Oregon touchdowns. Michigan State outgained the Ducks (1-1) 197-123 on the ground.

"We ran through some tackles," Dantonio said. "We got on the perimeter and made some things happen. We need to be a balanced team because that's the way you win games. Right now, that's what we are offensively."

Senior quarterback Conner Cook passed for 192 yards and two touchdowns for the Spartans, who extended their school record to 10 straight games with 30 or more points.

Senior quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. passed for 309 yards and a touchdown and rushed for one for No. 7 Oregon. The Eastern Washington transfer also had two interceptions and overthrew receiver Byron Marshall on a potential go-ahead touchdown pass during his team's final possession.

In the last meeting, the Ducks scored the last 28 points behind Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.

"Mariota last year was special," Spartans junior linebacker Riley Bullough said. "This year, we talked about not missing tackles and wrapping the quarterback up. For the most part, we did a pretty good job of that. There are still things we've got to get better at but we're content with the win."

Adams was also under pressure, getting sacked four times. Ducks coach Mark Helfrich felt his quarterback played well under the circumstances.

"There are a lot of things he'll think about tonight and tomorrow and then he'll flush them out and move forward," Helfrich said. "In this kind of game, there's going to be huge plays and there's going to be some clunkers. Obviously, you try to minimize the clunkers but the turnovers were huge."

Ducks sophomore running back Royce Freeman gained 92 yards on 24 carries and scored a touchdown.

Oregon junior Bralon Addison's 81-yard punt return just 1:49 into the second half tied it at 14.

Scott scored on a 6-yard run on the Spartans' next possession to make it 21-14. Junior Michael Geiger's 36-yard field goal later in the third increased Michigan State's lead to 10.

Adams' 2-yard run up the middle with 12:20 left pulled the Ducks within 24-21. Adams fired a 25-yard, fourth-down pass to senior Byron Marshall to get Oregon inside the 10.

The Spartans needed just three plays to re-establish a double-digit lead. Scott finished it off by cutting to his right and scampering 38 yards for the score with 10:51 remaining.

Adams' 15-yard touchdown pass to Marshall with 3:25 remaining cut the Spartans' lead to 31-28. That gave the Ducks an NCAA-record 70 consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass.

The Spartans then failed to gain a first down, but after Adams overthrew Marshall, the Ducks eventually turned the ball over on downs.

"The thing I really liked about our team, I liked the look in their eye," Helfrich said. "They fought to the end against a very good team on the road and you can build on that."

NOTES: Michigan State junior RT Kodi Kieler left the game with a right knee injury and did not return. The 6-foot-6, 315-pound Kieler was making his 10th career start. ... The last matchup of Top 10 teams in East Lansing was a 10-10 tie with Notre Dame in 1966 when those teams were ranked 1-2. ... The Spartans won their last 16 home openers, a streak that began against Oregon in 1999. ... The home team won the first five meetings ... The Ducks were 1-25 in road games against top-five opponents, with their only victory coming against No. 3 Stanford in 2011. ... Oregon is 25-0 when scoring at least 30 points in Mark Helfrich's first two seasons as head coach.