Big Ten Championship Game 2015: Michigan State stuns Iowa, secures playoff berth

The Michigan State Spartans stunned the Iowa Hawkeyes late in the fourth quarter of the Big Ten Championship to book a ticket to the College Football Playoff.

The Michigan State Spartans needed a fourth down conversion, an option keeper by quarterback Connor Cook, to keep their playoff hopes alive in the closing moments of the fourth quarter.

On the same drive, with 27 seconds left in the game, true freshman L.J. Scott broke several tackles, and scored the winning touchdown by sticking the football over the goal line on fourth down. This is the second Big Ten Championship for the Spartans in the last three years.

It was an ugly game dictated by hard-hitting defenses and special teams with both of the game’s touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter. The decisive drive for Michigan was a 22-play, 88-yard drive that took 9:04 off the clock as the Spartans dominated the line of scrimmage and the clock to win the game, just as they did when they beat the Ohio State Buckeyes two weeks ago.

Players of the Game

Connor Cook – Michigan State QB

While Cook did not come close to having his best game as a college quarterback, he did orchestrate a game-winning drive, and converted a critical fourth down conversion via a quarterback keeper. Cook went 16-32, for 191 yards and an interception. On the game winning drive, Cook led a 22-play series that was the longest drive for the Spartans in the past 12 years. He was named the game’s MVP afterward.

Shilique Calhoun – Michigan State DE

It feels like Calhoun has been at Michigan State forever, but he turned in his best game of his career with a pair of sacks as the potential (likely) first round pick dominated the Iowa offensive line and helped limit Iowa to 2.2 yards per carry on the ground.

L.J. Scott – Michigan State RB

Scott scored the Michigan State Spartans only touchdown of the game. On the scoring play, Scott rushed for one yard, pushed his way through three tacklers, and thrust the ball over the goal line to win the game. Scott carried the ball 22 for 73 yards, and a touchdown. In a game as close as this, any player that can score a touchdown is critical to the team’s win.

Fallout

With this win, Michigan State locks up a berth in the College Football Playoff. Even though the Spartans narrowly defeated the Hawkeyes, a win is still a win and it’ll be enough to hold off Stanford for the fourth and final spot.

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With the loss, Iowa has a nice consolation prize with a likely berth in the Rose Bowl Although Iowa ended up not being the ‘Cinderella’ that most expected, the Hawkeyes easily exceeded expectations this year by going 12-1.