Cotton Bowl 2015: Schedule, Storylines to Follow in Michigan State vs. Alabama

The Michigan State Spartans defense has proved to be among the best in the nation. On New Year's Eve in the 2015 Cotton Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal, the Spartans D will face its most significant test.

Game Details

When: Thursday, December 31 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

TV: ESPN

Preview

The Alabama Crimson Tide won't bring a bag of tricks to the party. There are no secrets with the latest version of head coach Nick Saban's perennially contending group. With Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, Alabama is going to run the ball down its opponent's throat.

Michigan State ranks ninth in the nation against the run, but there's a question as to whether head coach Mark Dantonio's team has ever faced a rushing attack like Alabama's.

For the season, the Crimson Tide rank just 26th in the nation. However, Alabama has cranked up its ground game lately. In the last two contests, Henry has accumulated 90 carries. If that isn't pure smashmouth football, the approach doesn't exist.

The Spartans know what's ahead of them. Per Mike Wilson of 247Sports, Spartans linebackers and special teams coach Mike Tressel is preparing his squad for a battle:

"

We need to prepare for a 15-round fight and we need to prepare to take blows and deliver blows right up to the very end. That has to be our mindset. It has to be our mind-set that we are going to need to want to tackle and want to tackle physical every single snap. With a big man, you can see as the year progressing and as his game progressed that people have started thinking twice about wanting to throw their body around.

"

Henry is, indeed, a big man. At 6'3", 242 pounds, he outweighs the top five tacklers on the Spartans defense. Being up to the task of tackling Henry with efficiency could be the difference between winning and losing for Michigan State.

Will Spartans O-Line Be Able to Protect Connor Cook?

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

All season long, Alabama has dominated the line of scrimmage—on both sides of the ball. We've talked about the Alabama running game, but Spartans quarterback Connor Cook and his offensive line must worry about the Crimson Tide front seven.

Alabama ranks 16th in the nation in passing defense but first in sacks. Juniors Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams have 19.5 between them. If Michigan State cannot protect Cook, the result will likely be untimely turnovers and three-and-out possessions.

Both would cause Michigan State to lose the field-position battle, which is something it can ill afford against Alabama.

Is the Big Ten Truly on Par with the SEC Elite?

AJ Mast/Associated Press

The Ohio State Buckeyes won the national championship last season and beat Alabama 42-35 in the semifinals along the way. The win stamped out the notion that the SEC's best would always beat the cream of the Big Ten crop.

Some might argue that Ohio State is the only Big Ten program that is capable of pulling off such a feat. If Michigan State were to knock off Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, it would be the second Big Ten team in as many seasons to stump the Crimson Tide.

That wouldn't just be a statement for the Spartans program but also one for the entire Big Ten Conference.