MSU shocks Baylor in Cotton Bowl
Michigan State kicker Michael Geiger and holder Mike Sadler watch the game-winning extra point during the second half of the Cotton Bowl Thursday.
Michigan State wide receiver Keith Mumphery catches a touchdown pass ahead of Baylor cornerback Ryan Reid during the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl Thursday.
Connor Cook and the Michigan State Spartans want to have a different role in the playoff talk next season.
With their big comeback finish in the Cotton Bowl, the No. 7 Spartans could be set up as a viable championship contender next season, after their only losses this season were to playoff teams.
Michigan State scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter on New Year’s Day to beat playoff-snubbed and No. 4 Baylor 42-41 in the highest-scoring Cotton Bowl ever.
“For us to win in such an emotional and dramatic fashion like you just saw out there, really just I think with all the guys coming back, all the juniors, really just makes us feel good and brings us closer together,” said Cook, who threw a 10-yard TD pass to Keith Mumphery with 17 seconds left.
Michigan State (11-2), which won the Rose Bowl as Big Ten champions last season, has won four consecutive bowl games after trailing in each of them at halftime. The Spartans’ only two losses this season were to Pac-12 winner Oregon and Big Ten champ Ohio State.
Down 41-21 going into the fourth quarter, Michigan State got the winning touchdown after Marcus Rush blocked Chris Callahan’s 43-yard field goal attempt with 1:05 left.
“It’s just sort of crazy,” coach Mark Dantonio said. “I really probably can’t put it into words. We just kept pace. We didn’t panic.”
When two-time Big 12 champ Baylor got the ball back for one last try, Bryce Petty was sacked on consecutive plays before Riley Bullough’s clinching interception.
That was quite a final defensive stand under coordinator Pat Narduzzi, who after 11 seasons and two schools with Dantonio is leaving the Spartans to take over as head coach at Pittsburgh. Narduzzi will be about 20 miles away Friday to watch the Panthers play Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl on the TCU campus.
The Cotton Bowl was the lead-in game Thursday to the two national semifinals that Baylor (11-2) hoped to be part of instead – though that doesn’t matter now.
“We’ve played a lot of really good games over the last seven seasons. Won a lot of really good games. And this is one of the tougher non-wins that I’ve ever experienced,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “It’s got nothing to do with the big picture. The small picture right now is letting a game get away from us today.”
Missouri 33, Minnesota 17: Marcus Murphy ran for 159 yards, Russell Hansbrough added 114 yards and a touchdown and No. 16 Missouri beat Minnesota 33-17 on Thursday in the Citrus Bowl.
Missouri (11-3) won its third straight bowl game to reach 11 victories for the fourth time in school history.
Minnesota (8-5) trailed 19-17 entering the fourth quarter, but Missouri pulled away on Hansbrough’s 78-yard touchdown run and Maty Mauk’s 7-yard scoring pass to Bud Sasser.
Mauk settled down to throw two TD passes after interceptions on the Tigers’ first two possessions.
The Tigers forced three turnovers.
Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner was 21 of 31 for 258 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers used an onside kick to open the third quarter to stretch out their halftime lead to 13-7.
The Golden Gophers responded on the ensuing series with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Leidner to tight end Maxx Williams. Williams leaped over cornerback Aarion Penton and stepped over another defender before diving into the end zone.
But Missouri quickly answered, needing just three plays after a muffed Minnesota punt for Mauk to give the Tigers a 19-14 lead on an 18-yard touchdown run.
It tightened to 19-17 by the start of in the fourth quarter before Hansbrough got free and rumbled for his score that put the Tigers’ up by nine with 9:28 to play.
Missouri survived a disastrous offensive start to lead 10-7 at halftime in a game that started with the teams combining for three turnovers in the first 4 minutes.
Missouri’s Mauk opened the game by being picked off by Derrick Wells on the Tigers’ third play from scrimmage. Minnesota would give it right back, though, when Leidner fumbled after being sandwiched in the backfield by defensive ends Markus Golden and Shane Ray.