If Cook and the Michigan State offense can have success against Iowa’s secondary and grab an early lead, the pressure will be on Beathard and an Iowa offense that lacks in big-play scoring.
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“Really to me I don’t know if that gives us an edge other than maybe we’ve sort of been here”, Dantonio said.
Ticketmaster, the official outlet for tickets to the game, listed no tickets available to the Big Ten Football Championship game.
Blythe sees the similarities on film between the two programs, but the Spartans’ athleticism takes Michigan State’s defense to another level.
Cook was named Big Ten Quarterback of the Year and is MSU’s first quarterback to be named All-Big Ten first team since Steve Juday – leader of the 1965 national champs. The Hawkeyes will try to grind it out and possess the ball, but the quarterback that makes one or two bigger plays will win it. And that sounds like Connor Cook. Ohio State’s loss to Michigan State was only by three points in a game that Ohio State led or was tied for 59:59 of the game.
As a first-year starter three seasons ago, Cook threw for 304 yards and 3 TDs as the Spartans stunned unbeaten Ohio State, knocking the Buckeyes out of the national title game.
The conventional wisdom is that the title game Saturday is essentially a play-in for one of the four coveted spots in the second College Football Playoff. With the goal of reaching the Playoff right in front of it, there’s no reason to stop talking about it now.
As always, we asked our experts for predictions on the game.
The Michigan State Spartans (11-1) are coming from a 55-15 win over Penn State. “I hope we keep the same attitude that we must overachieve”. “They want it all”. If No. 10 North Carolina beats No. 1 Clemson in the ACC game, there would be some big-time nail-biting in the conference office in Greensboro, N.C. “That’s exactly what we expect, so that’s what’s been our motivation for practices during the week”.
It took a win at home against Maryland followed by one of the most impressive victories from any team in the nation this year – the upset of Ohio State on the road. The bright lights aren’t going to bother the Spartans. Stanford is a very good team, but it is a very good team with two losses and conference champion or not, it lost two games in its first 12 games of the season, the same number of games that everyone else plays in the regular season.
Prediction Michigan State will end the dream.
Cooks career numbers are astounding: 71 TD passes, just 19 interceptions and a 4-1 record against top 10 teams. Both make plays but avoid mistakes.
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Despite a resurgent season under new coach Jim McElwain, the offensively challenged Gators are a massive 18-point underdog against Alabama (11-1, No. 2 CFP), which is one victory away from a second straight trip to the College Football Playoff. Most think that the Spartans are going to win – and with good reason. Dantonio said this week that Williamson is practicing but probably won’t be available against Iowa. “Sometimes it’s not all what it appears to be…sometimes it’s about changing a few things, making some tweaks”.
