It was a nifty and timely playcall with the game slipping away from the Spartans, allowing them to pull within 23-21."My teammates have been making jokes and stuff saying, 'Bro, you're about to get a statue made of you. He was all alone, rumbling 75 yards before being stopped short of the goal-line. But with 9:11 left and Michigan State’s season on the line, trailing 23-14, Cook faked two handoffs and found fullback Trevon Pendleton on the wheel route. KEY STAT: Michigan has given up just two plays all year long of more than 30 yards. The Wolverines cashed in, using safety Jabrill Peppers on offense to break a 28-yard run that set up the touchdown and a 17-7 lead. O’Connor fell a yard short, giving Michigan - which wasn’t getting much done offensively - a short field at the 38-yard line. It’s unclear what the play was supposed to be it appeared punter Tyler O’Connor was supposed to pass, but he ended up running for the first-down marker. Which made it all the more baffling why Spartans coach Mark Dantonio, in a 10-7 game, called a fake punt with 12:01 left in the third quarter on their own side of the field. THE DECIDING PLAY: Michigan (5-2, 2-1 Big Ten) is not the kind of team you want to fall two scores behind. Even though the replay booth upheld the call, Bolden appeared to be shoved into Cook, which made the penalty seem questionable. It was, well, interesting and noticeable at all times - and both sides could have easily left Michigan Stadium game claiming the opposition got some key help from the guys in stripes.Īll told, there were 13 flags (eight on Michigan) and eight instant replay reviews, some of which were on brutally close calls.īut among the most controversial was the targeting penalty assessed to Michigan linebacker Joe Bolden going head-first into Cook after a slide, disqualifying Bolden from the game and setting up Michigan’s first touchdown. WHAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT: Besides the final play? Officiating.
Michigan State has won seven of the past eight meetings with the Wolverines, unprecedented in the series. It also appeared to win the game with 1:47 left, forcing three consecutive incompletions and sacking Cook when the Spartans were on the edge of field goal range. The crazy final play will overshadow a great performance by the Michigan defense, which held Connor Cook to 18-of-39 passing for 328 yards. The Spartans have fought injury haven’t been impressive all season but keep finding ways to win. Instead, Michigan State is now 7-0, 3-0 in the Big Ten - somehow, some way - despite never leading Saturday until the final horn. He got in as time expired to crush a Wolverines team that was seconds away from entering the national championship conversation. The ball landed in the arms of Spartans safety Jalen Watts-Jackson, who outran Michigan’s pursuing defenders, getting to the corner of the end zone before he was cut off and forced out of bounds. Punter Blake O’Neill dropped the snap - nobody was even back to field it for the Spartans - and got swarmed by a mess of defenders. With Michigan needing to do no more than get off a punt with 10 seconds left and then defend one play to wrap up a 23-21 win, disaster struck. THE BIG PICTURE: It would be almost impossible for the fortunes of two seasons to swing more dramatically on one fluke play.īut in the Big House, Michigan State and Michigan will put their names right up along side Stanford-Cal with the band on the field and the 2013 Iron Bowl.