Iowa had the Big Ten championship in its sights Saturday night, and then it didn’t after Michigan State played keepaway and scored the winning touchdown with 27 seconds left. After Iowa kicked off the fourth quarter with an 85-yard touchdown pass, it looked like that might be enough to keep the Spartans down. For the third time in the last five years and the second time in last three years, the Spartans have won the Big Ten Championship.
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Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook. Cook kept it on an option to the left and got the first down. “First to be East Division champions, it’s special, and then to be a Big Ten champion, it’s unbelievable”. We won a lot of football games in the last three years. Just looking back on it, the offense gives us a 22 play drive in nine minutes. The ball briefly fell on a Michigan State player’s back, which allowed Demetrious Cox to get the interception. Iowa is in line for a New Year’s Six bowl – Rose, Sugar, Peach and Fiesta.
“He’s a load. I felt like if he found a crease he’d get more”, Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said. Michigan State’s top three rushers – Scott, Gerald Holmes and Madre London – have a combined 1,614 yards and 22 TDs. Michigan State had a great drive at the end, but defense played lights out all game. They moved from No. 8 to 6 immediately after the win, but dropped to seventh behind Stanford this week after sitting idle while the Cardinal were beating USC for a second time this season in the Pac-12 title game.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban walks off the field after the second half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game against Florida, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Atlanta.
“We’re going to play on edge”, Dantonio said. The drive consumed 9:04 and included key completions from quarterback Connor Cook, the game MVP, to tight end Josiah Price for 13 yards and to wide receiver Aaron Burbridge for 16 yards, moving Michigan State into position to win the game. Whether it was the fact that Iowa has one of the best secondaries in the country or the fact that Cook’s shoulder wasn’t at 100%, the future NFLer didn’t attempt many long passes. He also gets another $150,000 for taking his team to the College Football Playoff and could escalate that bonus to $250,000 by winning the national title.
No. 17 Houston 24, No. 20 Temple 13: In Houston, Greg Ward Jr. ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns and Houston beat Temple in the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship game.
The College Football Playoff final final four will be announced 11:30 this morning.
“This is why our seniors came back this season”, Cook said of the Big Ten championship and the likely opportunity to participate in the playoffs.
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Perhaps the biggest debate was Michigan State finishing ahead of Oklahoma. They had it when they needed it. We couldn’t quite get off the field. “It was dogfight. That’s probably one of the tougher teams we played this year and they came out the play the whole game, but I felt we kind of wore them down at the end”. Come to think of it, that’s Michigan State football as well. “We felt like we were the tougher team”.
