But Michigan State players and coaches said Saturday that they may not have gotten to where they are now without that loss.
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Allen’s score sparked its share of envy from some at Iowa, Michigan State’s opponent Saturday in the Big Ten championship game. Brandon Ross ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns, including an 80-yard score to take the lead for good. “At the same time, it gives a lot of fat guys like myself around college football some hope”.
“I would think the victor of this football game goes to the College Football Playoffs”, Dantonio said. “So, there’s added risk to all of this for us”. “I’m just focusing right now on getting better and what we need to do”.
He worked minor wonders this season with a team that lacks depth, had a 5-7 record previous year in Hoke’s final season as coach, and has a quarterback, Jake Rudock, who did a graduate transfer after he was told he wasn’t good enough to start at Iowa. During a teleconference Monday, Cook said he was impressed with Iowa’s toughness.
The Wolverines accomplished this turnaround with a running game that was very thin.
“I really let my emotions get the most of me”.
Plenty of players got into the act as the Spartans scored a season-high in points.
No. 14 FLORIDA ST. 27, No. 10 FLORIDA 2 (at Gainesville, Fla.) – Dalvin Cook ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns as the Seminoles (10-2) ended any chance the Gators (10-2) had of making the national playoffs. Gerald Holmes picked up the go-ahead touchdown with a 6-yard run.
Rushing defense: MI was held to a season-low 57 yards rushing on 25 carries (2.3 yards per carry).
There was obviously no letdown from their shocking upset in Columbus.
We stopped calling this category “quarterbacks” in the beginning of the year because Connor Cook was the only one really receiving any snaps. Ideally, the committee would not want put a team seeded third or fourth too close to home, but if the rankings stay as is with Oklahoma at No. 3, the Sooners would get a short trip to the Dallas area to play the Tide. The second, an intended screen pass to Saquon Barkley that was tipped by defensive end Shilique Calhoun, was caught by nose tackle Malik McDowell and returned 13 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
But more than records and numbers, Cook’s career is defined by big-game success.
New coach on the way but all the turnovers were disturbing.
Now, here’s where the myriad things Ohio State can’t control come in.
The Nittany Lions’ starting defensive ends, senior Carl Nassib and sophomore Garrett Sickels, missed the game because of undisclosed injuries. We’ve been able to pressure pretty much everybody all year.
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“It’s not every day you see a 265-pound tailback back there …” But the Spartans answered with three touchdowns in a 1:30 span, including Allen’s run. He may have finished with two touchdown passes, but he also threw two interceptions. They were limited to 138 yards of offense in the second half after piling up 226 yards in the first half. “If there are 10 seconds left, you’ve got to play that 10 seconds, because anything can happen”. He entered the game tied with Matt McGloin, who had 46…. Iowa (12-0) hasn’t been taken seriously all season long because it’s played a schedule that didn’t include any of the Big Ten East division’s heavy hitters. It was the most emphatic win of the season for the Spartans, who will play unbeaten Iowa for the conference title next weekend.
