No. 5 Michigan State defeats No. 4 Iowa 16-13

There were nearly 5,700 touchdowns scored this season in FBS.

The Big Ten’s Quarterback of the Year missed the Ohio State game two weeks ago with an injured shoulder but looked fine last Saturday in the Spartans’ romp over Penn State.

“I couldn’t tell you why”, he said.

And he’s on the winning team. It went over the goal line, the official at the end of the line signaled touchdown, and the Michigan State half of the stadium knew joy and relief.

Scott kept powering forward and stretched the ball into the end zone for a touchdown with 27 seconds that sent the Spartans past No. 4 Iowa 16-13 Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game.

North Carolina’s Ryan Switzer hauled in his second TD catch of the game with 1:13 left to cut Clemson’s lead to eight and give the Tigers a scare.

The Spartans jogged back from the sideline. They grinded it out.

But the Spartans forced the Hawkeyes to settle for only three field goals before putting together that last-ditch drive. They beat Purdue by three. It was an offensive line that couldn’t open up holes most of the night Saturday against the Hawkeyes. On the drive they had been beaten to the pulp, worn to a nub. But winning close games in dramatic fashion has been a theme for Michigan State all season. It would have been a classic if played in the Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa, so don’t start to throw the bad football arguments out at me. “I was dying out there”. We got the game and the clock. It didn’t matter. The Spartans’ freshman back wasn’t going to be denied. That would change on the first play of the fourth quarter. At Michigan, they pulled off one of the biggest miracles in sports history, returning a fumbled punt snap for a touchdown as time expired to win 27-23. At the moment…. I also think Clemson QB Deshaun Watson is my Heisman choice….

“Yeah, I was pretty exhausted”, Allen said. You couldn’t ask for a better way to win the game.

The College Football Playoff final final four will be announced 11:30 this morning. MSU has put themselves in a position to win their first national title since 1966. He tumbled ahead to the 1-yard line on first down, then got stacked up for no gain. He slammed into cornerback Desmond King on second down. “Just a tremendous play”. “I sort of felt like No. 3, LJ Scott, was in rhythm”. “He has a visor and there was water all over it from sweating”. It was a remarkably wild play that kept the Hawkeyes from grabbing all the momentum with a score and gave the ball back to the Spartans, bailing out a Michigan State defense that was carved up for 60 yards.

To put MSU’s epic drive in perspective, Iowa’s offense ran 16 plays in the entire second half. Brick by brick by hit by bit.

Watson’s 420 total yards and five total TDs set ACC title game records. But as far as drama and determination and (Mark) Dantonio, the drive was a metaphor for what the coach has built in nine seasons. But assuming it does what it has said it will do, the whole decision comes down to how the committee ranks the rest of the top 25 after making an easy call with the four playoff teams. “I know it’s been written about, what have you. We earned it the hard way”.

If you were a Spartan fan, you knew to wait around until the end. Depending on seeding, they will play a national semifinal December 31 either in South Florida or Dallas.

Yes, they do, but this isn’t the first fairy tail ending for this year’s MSU football team.

Michigan State held the 365-268 edge in total yards and dominated on the ground by rushing for 172 yards compared to Iowa’s 52. The deficit was the first time the Hawkeyes trailed in a game since the second quarter against in on November 8.

Iowa’s C.J. Beathard finished 18 of 26 with 216 yards, one interception and an 85-yard TD pass to Tevaun Smith on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Iowa a 13-9 lead. He ran for three first downs on Michigan State’s final drive, converting twice on third and short.

NO. 7 STANFORD 41, NO. 24 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 22: Christian McCaffrey ran for 207 yards and a score, threw a touchdown pass, caught another and broke Barry Sanders’ single-season all-purpose yards record to make his Heisman Trophy case and lead Stanford to the Pac-12 championship. “That me and the seniors, going out here like this, it feels awesome”, senior Aaron Burbridge said in the locker room afterwards. It was the same for Williamson, who tore his biceps muscle in the Big Ten opener.

That’s the thing about this new-fangled playoff.

Yes, Michigan State lost in controversial fashion late at Nebraska. “A lot of tough guys on this team and we stuck it out there at the end”.

At least the longest-lasting.