Down 13-9 in the Big Ten Football championship game, No. 5 MSU went on a 22-play drive lasting more than nine minutes and scored a game-winning touchdown with 27 seconds left, to defeat No. 4 Iowa, 16-13.
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Overall, the Spartans ran 18 plays and passed four times on the drive, which started at their own 18 with 9:31 to play.
“He runs like a monster man”, tight end Josiah Price said. “I love having him on our team”. When it was over, Michigan State had won its second Big Ten title in three seasons and made its invitation to the playoff a formality.
The final CFP rankings will be announced at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
Iowa will be playing in a prominent bowl after this first loss of the season.
“We’re marching, we’re marching”, coach Mark Dantonio said on the field after the game. I think I think Clemson will win.
Breaking down the Spartans’ Big Ten Championship Game victory Saturday night in Indianapolis.
It helped to have Scott, who has had an up-and-down freshman year with plenty of highs mixed in with his share of frustrations. He carried the ball on 10 of the final 11 plays.
“I was just trying to make a big play for my brothers”, Scott said. They got creative and used a variety of formations – new and old – in an attempt to prevent taxing Cook’s arm too often.
Cook, who was selected the game’s most valuable player, methodically moved the Spartans in a drive that consumed almost the final 91/2 minutes. Yeah there was a lack of offense, and yeah it felt a lot like a slogging soccer match at times, but this was about pride, guts, and perseverance.
“It was a quintessential drive”, Cook said.
“We came together because we all love each other and we all want the same thing and that’s to win”. “It’s just tough because losing a game like that when it’s that close, it’s hard to handle”. We know we’re going to be facing a good defensive line this week and we need to be on top of our game. We’re always going to have that chip because there’s always going to be some level of disrespect where people don’t respect the Spartans.
Western Kentucky 45, Southern Miss 28 – Brandon Doughty threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns, and the Hilltoppers (11-2, 8-0) came from behind to win the Conference USA title game in Bowling Green, Ky.
Watson had 420 total yards and five total touchdowns to set ACC championship game records. Just after a Jamal Lyles false start quarterback Connor Cook threw a seemingly costly interception midway through the first quarter.
Another series of questionable play calling and with Iowa unable to gain significant yards, Geiger had another opportunity to hit a 52-yarder to end the half.
But as great a program as Dantonio has built in East Lansing, the Spartans have now reached the point they’d yet to reach under the eighth-year head coach.
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The victor of this game might probably get a slot in the college football playoffs while the loser will not even be considered by the selection team. But our football team I thought played with great effort, unbelievable guts and courage out there. They showed they belonged on the big stage and impressed several national pundits with their play, albeit in a heartbreaking defeat. “We knew he was getting a lot of heat after last season – and last season wasn’t really his fault”, sophomore Iowa tackle Boone Myers said. “We’ll take it one step at a time and keep believing in ourselves and go back to work on Monday”.
