Big Ten Championship 2015: Game Grades, Analysis for Iowa vs. Michigan State

For the second time in three years, head coach Mark Dantonio and Michigan State are Big Ten champions.

The fifth-ranked Spartans (12-1) used a clutch 22-play drive that chewed up nine minutes in the fourth quarter to seal a 16-13 win over the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes (12-1). The win will likely vault Michigan State into the top four and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Here's how the Hawkeyes and the Spartans graded out.

	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	C-	C+
Run Offense	C	F
Pass Defense	A	B+
Run Defense	A	C
Special Teams	A	A
Coaching	B	C

Pass Offense

C.J. Beathard started hot in the first quarter, connecting on eight of his first 11 passes. Things slowed down in the second quarter, as he finished the half with just 93 passing yards and a wild interception in the Michigan State end zone.

A big 85-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter was a huge boost, but the Hawkeyes finished with just 216 passing yards and one touchdown against one interception.

Run Offense

Iowa's offense was dealt a heavy blow when leading rusher Jordan Canzeri tweaked his ankle late in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes backfield runs deep as Derrick Mitchell, Jr. and LeShun Daniels, Jr. stepped in, but they only managed to gain 59 yards in the first half. 

Things turned drastically in the second half, though, as Iowa lost seven yards on the ground to finish with 52 total.

Pass Defense

The Hawkeyes had a stiff task in limiting Michigan State's explosive passing attack, but they did an outstanding job, especially in the first half. Connor Cook threw for just 96 yards in the first half and leading receiver Aaron Burbridge had just one catch for five yards before the break.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Cook finished with 191 yards on 16-of-32 passing with no touchdowns and one interception.

Run Defense

Iowa came in with a stout run defense, ranking sixth nationally after allowing 110 yards per game, and it looked the part early against the surging Spartans. Michigan State managed just 46 yards in the first half, but it found a groove in the second half, as it finished with 174 yards on 46 carries, averaging 3.8 yards per attempt. 

Special Teams

Kicker Marshall Koehn was solid Saturday night, connecting on both of his field-goal attempts. He drilled a 43-yard field goal early in the second quarter to give the Hawkeyes a 6-3 lead they'd maintain for most of the second half and much of the third. Punter Dillon Kidd had an average day, averaging 35.6 yards on five punts, and the Hawkeyes drew a huge penalty when it roughed the Michigan State punter early in the third quarter. That flag prolonged a drive that ended with a Spartans field goal.

Coaching

Iowa's defense came in with the perfect game plan and executed it nicely, holding Michigan State to a season-low 16 points, but the offense failed to attack the weakness of the Spartans defense (the secondary) until it was too late. Beathard torched the Spartans with an 85-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter, but that was the first real deep shot the Hawkeyes took. Had they been that aggressive to open the game, it could've ended differently. 

	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	C-	C
Run Offense	D-	B
Pass Defense	B+	C+
Run Defense	B	A+
Special Teams	D	C+
Coaching	C+	B+

Pass Offense

It was clear early on that Cook still wasn't 100 percent, and that impacted Michigan State's ability to move the ball against Iowa's stingy defense. Cook threw for just 96 yards and a bad interception in the first half, and he finished with 191 yards and no touchdowns, completing 50 percent of his passes. 

Run Offense

The Spartans struggled to run the ball early on Iowa's No. 6 run defense, gaining just 46 yards in the first half. Madre London and LJ Scott found a bit of a rhythm in the third quarter, running for 54 yards, and the Spartans finished with 176 yards on the ground, much of which came on the final game-winning drive.  

Pass Defense

Michigan State's pass defense held up incredibly well for three quarters, limiting Beathard to 98 yards and an interception on 21 pass attempts. But on the first play of the fourth quarter, Beathard found Tevaun Smith behind the Spartans secondary for a huge 85-yard touchdown that put Iowa up 13-9. But that was the only big play Iowa registered in an otherwise solid performance. 

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Run Defense

Michigan State's task in stopping Iowa's solid run game became a lot easier when Canzeri went down. The Hawkeyes ran for a meager 59 yards in the first half, but the Spartans stiffened in a huge way in the second half, moving Iowa back seven yards as it finished with 52 total rushing yards.

Special Teams

After Michael Geiger became the hero on the final play of the game against Ohio State, he almost blew it in the Big Ten title game.

He connected on a short chip-shot field goal in the first quarter, but he missed a pair of attempts from beyond 50 yards before the break. He redeemed himself in the third quarter with a pair of field goals that put the Spartans ahead 9-6. 

Coaching

Dantonio and the Michigan State coaching staff weren't calling their best game through three quarters, but they bounced back with a perfectly executed fourth quarter.

Trailing 13-9 with a little over nine minutes to go, the Spartans didn't panic and leaned on the running game because of Cook's injured shoulder. The staff mixed it up with a variety of perimeter and option runs, which wore down Iowa's defensive front. That decision clinched the Big Ten title and put Michigan State in the College Football Playoff.