Michigan State Starts 2015 Playoff Run with Epic Cotton Bowl Comeback Win
Michigan State scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat Baylor in the 2015 Cotton Bowl, laying the foundation for a playoff run next season.
The Spartans trailed 41-21 but fought all the way back to 41-35 and blocked a 43-yard field goal with just over a minute left to play. Connor Cook promptly drove the offense 81 yards in eight plays, hitting senior wide receiver Keith Mumphery for the game-winning touchdown with 17 seconds on the clock.
They would go on to win 42-41.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The 2014 Spartans were an obviously flawed team that benefitted from a lopsided schedule en route to a 11-2 record. They didn't beat a single team in the College Football Playoff Top 25 until Thursday. They were not as good as they were back in 2013.
But the momentum they gained from beating Baylor—the highest-ranked team that did not make the national semifinals—in manic fashion should carry well into the offseason. They proved once again that they are no one's "Little Brother."
They have, after all, won 11 games in four of the past five seasons.
Cook rebounded from an ill-advised, Brett Favre-esque interception to lead three fourth-quarter touchdown drives. He finished with 314 yards, two touchdowns and two picks on 24-of-42 passing.
The game he played was quintessential Cook. He made difficult throws look easy and easy throws look difficult. But the rising senior signal-caller, who announced in December that he plans to return next season, showed the moxie of a true Heisman candidate.
"When things are on edge, [Cook] can make plays," head coach Mark Dantonio told Tom Luginbill on the ESPN broadcast.
"And that's what he did."
Prior to beating Baylor, the Spartans were 10-0 against unranked opponents but 0-2 against the only great teams they played (Oregon and Ohio State). A five-point home win over Nebraska looked worse at the end of the season than it did at the time, and beyond that there were no quality wins on the schedule.
Seriously…what else did MSU have to point to?
Beating Penn State in State College? Northwestern did it first.
Beating Maryland in College Park? Rutgers did it, too.
Beating Michigan by 24 points? Don't make me laugh.
But a win over Baylor—fluky as it might have been—validated the Spartans' season and propelled them into what should be a legitimate playoff run next year. Provided they fix some of the problems that plagued them in 2014, they should once again compete to win it all.
The first order of business will be fixing the defense, which tried and tried but never seemed to compensate for the loss of Darqueze Dennard, Isaiah Lewis, Max Bullough, Denicos Allen and a slew of additional contributors from last year's Rose Bowl champion.
Pat Narduzzi's final Spartans defense belied the rest of his tenure, suffering regular coverage breakdowns, struggling to tackle in the open field and lacking the je ne sais quoi that made the 2013 group (and so many of its predecessors) so special.
Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty set a Cotton Bowl record with 550 passing yards on Thursday, averaging an absurd 10.8 yards per attempt on 36-of-51 passing.
It was a fitting end to an explosive play-filled season.
| 2012 | 1.69 | 0.62 | 0.38 | 0.23 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 1.50 | 0.79 | 0.36 | 0.07 | 0.00 |
| 2014 | 2.62 | 1.69 | 0.92 | 0.46 | 0.31 |
Having said that, there are reasons for optimism.
The loss of Narduzzi, who accepted the head coaching position at Pittsburgh, will hurt, but the promotion of defensive backs coach Harlon Barnett and linebackers coach Mike Tressel to co-defensive coordinator ensures a semblance of defensive continuity.
Defensive end Shilique Calhoun and cornerback Trae Waynes might (and probably will) declare for the NFL draft, but the way Narduzzi and his staff identified, recruited and developed talent the past eight seasons has fostered an insanely deep depth chart, especially considering the amount of MSU players who redshirt.
More to the point, Cook will return to an offense that is only now starting to reach its potential. There are holes to fill at wide receiver, but the offensive line will return mostly intact.
With a first-round NFL draft prospect under center, Dantonio on the sideline and the momentum of having just won one of the craziest bowl games of the decade, MSU has everything it needs to compete for a national title next season—no matter that it has to host Oregon and play road games at Ohio State and Michigan (i.e., against Jim Harbaugh).
This is one of the 10 healthiest programs in the country.
And it got healthier, once again, this season.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
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