Cook starts for Michigan State with division on the line

The Spartans may not be the best team in the country, but when they take the field, they think they are. Michigan’s resurgence under first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh continued with a hard-fought 28-16 victory over Penn State to finish undefeated on the road in conference play for the first time since 1997.

But playing against teams like Michigan State, with Big Ten hopes and national title ambitions, close isn’t good enough and good enough only happens when you make the most of opportunities. “We’re 12-0. You can’t do better than that”.

“He should be in New York”, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said of Elliott and his Heisman Trophy chances. The Nittany Lions and Wisconsin are the only Big Ten teams to post winning seasons for the last 11 years….

Taiwan Deal rushed for 90 yards and two scores and the Badgers (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten) kept Paul Bunyan’s Axe, which goes to the victor of the most-played rivalry game in college football. And best of all: Nobody can sensibly argue that point. “Obviously, I’ve been very fortunate to be able to play in a lot of games and not have to sit out”. The stakes: A spot in the second annual College Football Playoff. But this is pretty simple.

Nassib played two plays against Michigan and just two against Michigan State.

A week ago, Elliott merely dominated the headlines with his harsh (and accurate) assessment of a flawed game plan against Michigan State that resulted in five first downs and eight punts. And that should be that.

Ohio State finished with 482.

The Buckeyes flipped time of possession to 7:16 in their favor during a second half in which they outscored the Wolverines 28-3.

Iowa is likely to need some explosive plays if it is going to keep pace with Michigan State. They would rant and rave about Iowa’s weak schedule and say that Michigan State is not in Alabama’s league.

If Iowa loses to Michigan State next week, there is a real possibility that Ohio State would be ranked ahead of Iowa in the final poll and therefore a real possibility that the Rose Bowl could choose Ohio State over Iowa. The narrative would ignore those.

Sparty was officially toying with Penn State. Then, with the Spartans leading 13-3, but Penn State driving, Kyle Carter fumbled the ball at the Spartan 23 yard line. This one’s on the players. Maybe all of the team’s injuries provided a convenient excuse.

UM’s run defense, which was consistently strong through the course of the season, fell apart against the Buckeyes. “They did play hard, but they didn’t have a ton of depth”. When they finally lost at Nebraska, it was not surprising.

Connor Cook, who returned after missing the Ohio State game with a shoulder issue, threw two third quarter touchdowns to increase the lead to 34-10. Pendleton, who is a crucial part of MSU’s rushing attack, had to be helped to the locker room, couldn’t put any pressure on the leg and didn’t return.

Fellow safety Montae Nicholson of Monroeville, Pa., said the win was special for several reasons. “We all felt like we needed that loss”.

Albright concludes its season with a 10-2 overall record, while Mount Union improves to 12-0 on the season and advances to the quarterfinal round. It finally came back around.

Senior tight end Paul Lang, one of seven Pennsylvanians on the roster and MSU’s game captain Saturday, took over at fullback for Pendleton. Dantonio was asked if he took joy in turning Ohio State-Michigan into the undercard. This is what we sort of shot for, to win the East, and that was our first goal that we had to accomplish. “So what I’m doing right now is, every ounce of ability, every ounce of energy and focus, is going on trying to win this game”.