Michigan State senior quarterback Connor Cook runs onto the field as he is introduced before an NCAA college football game against Penn State, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, in East Lansing, Mich. But the Spartans won the last meeting 26-14 in 2013 in what Ferentz called star quarterback Connor Cook’s “coming out party”.
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Cole Fisher, an Iowa outside linebacker, realizes the Hawkeyes will have to rely more on their solid defense to limit Michigan State’s offense than wait for Cook to make a mistake.
“He had played well prior to that game, but I thought he played really well against us”, Ferentz said in a teleconference Sunday.
The Buckeyes (11-1, No. 8 CFP) stand a good chance to be ranked high enough by the committee to end up playing in one of the New Year’s Six games.
The Spartans (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten), who upset Ohio State 17-14 a week earlier and won East Division’s head-to-head tiebreaker, will face No. 4 Iowa in Indianapolis on Saturday night.
Penn State (7-5, 4-4) got 257 passing yards from Christian Hackenberg but never led and let things get out of hand late.
“Sitting out stunk”, Cook said.
“We had to play this football game and take it, as opposed to staying cautious and sitting back and saying, ‘Hey, I hope we don’t lose, ‘” Dantonio said. “That was a reality check”.
The Spartans kept the Land-Grant Trophy with their most lopsided win in a series with Penn State that started in 1914. It was both a cursed and stellar year, but one more loss on the road in the final seconds meant a playoff bid just wasn’t meant to be. The Nittany Lions couldn’t stop the 296-pound lineman as he rumbled to the end zone.
“(The play was in our playbook) for about five minutes”, Allen said.
“That was our best game offensively, by far”, Meyer said. “They got it done”.
The big unanswered question, despite bouncing back in a big way, was why Ohio State couldn’t have played like this against Michigan State.
Kenny Allen kicked a 25-yard field goal to pull the Wolverines within four points early in the second quarter.
The Spartans went up on the next two plays.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, but the Michigan State Spartans are four-point favorites to win the Big Ten Championship game over Iowa. “They nailed us pretty good in ’11, we got them in ’10, and Cook took over in the second half in ’13, but even going back to when I was here in the ’80s, it seems like we’ve always had close endings against those guys”.
But in recent weeks, the Spartans’ rushing attack that includes freshmen Gerald Holmes and L.J. Scott has gradually found their collective groove, especially in the win over Ohio State when Michigan State rushed for 203 yards. Before coach Mark Dantonio’s arrival, it had just two 10-win seasons in school history (1965, 1999).
That said, Hackenberg can get an evaluation from the NFL’s scouting department on the range of rounds where he could expect to be drafted, a service provided to college players with a year of eligibility left who may be considering entering the league. As the underdog, the Spartans beat the Ohio State Buckeyes, 34-24.
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Sudfeld threw for 350 yards and had five total touchdowns in a win over Purdue on Saturday. Cox scooped up the ball, weaved his way toward the left sideline, then cut to the middle on his 77-yard score that gave Michigan State a 20-3 lead.
