L.J. Scott’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 27 seconds remaining Saturday night lifted No. 5 Michigan State to a 16-13 victory over No. 4 Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.
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That game was the last of Michigan State’s three toughest non-conference games.
No. 5 Michigan State’s final drive only seemed like it lasted longer than a session of Congress. Wine had time to age when the Spartans took over on their own 18 with 9-plus minutes left Saturday in the Big Ten Championship Game.
And again it wasn’t the prettiest. Both times the Spartans won the championship game, they did so by downing previously undefeated squads on a neutral site in Indianapolis. The Spartans and their coach clearly never count themselves out though.
It was a glorious play that summed up the Spartans’ extraordinary competitive character under head coach Mark Dantonio.
Not to be outdone, though, Michigan State’s defense lived up to its reputation; and overall it was a game that likely pulled at the heart-strings of defensive minded football fans. However, as was normal in the first half, the Spartans had trouble capitalizing.
Penalties were a problem throughout the game for the Spartans, picking up eight penalties for 85 yards. He is the only quarterback in school history to win his first 13 career starts. Surrounded, Cook unwisely opted for the interception instead of the sack, giving the Hawkeyes prime field position. A third-and-15 pass to Felton Davis III in the first resulted in a first down and set up a field goal. The Hawkeyes haven’t played in the Pasadena, Calif., bowl since 1991, a 25-year absence. As time expired, his 53-yard field goal bounced off the post. However, when they needed a game-winning drive, it was bread-and-butter, “Pound, Green, Pound” running behind Mark Staten’s powerful line that gouged out the win.
Iowa threatened to take a double-digit, second-quarter lead, but Beathard was intercepted in the end zone by Michigan State safety Demetrious Cox, who snagged the ball in midair after it bounced off a teammate’s back. Geiger kick. Drive – 22 plays, 82 yards, 9:04.
The Spartans did it despite one holding penalty, five third downs and one fourth down. Key play – Beathard hits the senior with Iowa’s longest pass play of the season, seven yards longer than a Beathard-to-Smith pass against North Texas.
“He’s a load. I felt like if he found a crease he’d get more”, Dantonio said. Cook, who appeared to be struggling with the same shoulder injury that kept him out of the Ohio State game, missed several open receivers on throws to his left. Scott’s touchdown play was a manly masterpiece. The throw came on Iowa’s second play of the drive, the first play of the fourth quarter. “We knew what we had at stake”.
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Seniors like Harris were somewhat familiar with the feeling of winning the Conference Championship. “I said, ‘Can you do this?” “And there were haters at times when they were saying, ‘Why can’t these guys get it together?’ But we just cared about the guys in that room, and we just kept pushing for each other”. Iowa’s 12-1 record and top five ranking after starting the season unranked was certainly unexpected, while the Buckeyes entered the season as college football’s unanimous preseason favorite, before a November 21 loss to the Spartans pushed them out of the playoff picture.
