Michigan State vs. Wisconsin: 98 Percent of a Perfect Game

You would have had a hard time distinguishing Saturday's game between Wisconsin and Michigan State from the earlier matchup played in East Lansing in October just by watching the action on the field most of the night.  Outside of the venue, the two games followed much the same script.

Both games featured a confident, composed Wisconsin team marching down the field behind the stellar running of Montee Ball, followed by a Michigan State turnover and quick Wisconsin touchdown to make it a two-score game early with all the momentum clad in red.

Both games also featured the Michigan State counter: a two-quarter-long clinic put together by the Spartan defense that ground the Wisconsin offense to a halt with three-and-outs while allowing Kirk Cousins and Co. to bomb the Spartans back into a seemingly insurmountable second-half lead.

And just like before, Wisconsin wasn't done.  The Badgers stormed back in the final quarter to take control of the game and give Michigan State an opportunity.

The only difference lies in just how the action of both games culminated at the end.

The first game was a celebration of the unpredictable, a joyous reminder that on any given night under the lights there is a chance for immortality.  It was the culmination of a game that pitted the conference's two best teams against each other and in doing so delivered the best Big Ten game of the season—complete with the most dramatic finish.

The second game offered none of the resolution of the first; there was no definitive ending, just the uneasy feeling the rug had been pulled out from under you as you looked around the room trying to reorient yourself.  "Wait, what just happened?"

Instead of getting the Big Ten championship game we were all hoping for, we got to the end to find the last chapter had already been removed, as if ripped from the back of a book.  Michigan State had to that point played one of its best games of the season against its toughest competition.  Michigan State out-gained Wisconsin by more than 100 yards and did so at over seven yards per play.  Cousins once again one-upped Russell Wilson by completing 22 of his 30 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns (almost 100 yards more than Wilson).  And while Ball was his normal productive self on the scoreboard with four total touchdowns, Michigan State's LeVeon Bell was equally impressive with 18 carries for 106 yards (and a better per-carry average than Ball) for one touchdown.

Defensively, Michigan State gave up a great deal of points but was effective in shutting down the run game outside of Ball—Wilson was the only other rusher and he finished the day with seven carries for five yards lost.  On top of that, Wisconsin's second quarter consisted of four drives—all three-and-outs—that totaled negative-four yards.

Michigan State's statistical dominance doesn't even credit just how much the Spartans influenced the tone of the game.  Any success that Wisconsin found was either quickly bottled up or created by some superhuman effort on Wilson's part.

However, this isn't to say that the game was a wholly one-sided affair.Wisconsin's first quarter was brutally efficient.  Two drives of more than 60 yards that saw Wisconsin average more than eight yards per play followed by a special teams-forced fumble and another score to extend the lead to 14 points.

While the wheels ground to a halt in the second quarter, Wisconsin was able to keep pace with Michigan State through the third quarter before finally taking the lead with five minutes left in the game. Wisconsin's offense may have been the least efficient of the two Saturday, but when the Badgers needed points Russell Wilson found a way to deliver them.  In the face of constant pressure from the Michigan State defense, Wilson and Ball were still able to find just enough offensive production to keep the chains moving while sneaking in big plays to receivers Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Duckworth.

After Michigan State failed to capitalize on its opportunity to answer Wisconsin's go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth, the Spartans punted (game theorists everywhere cringed) and put the game in the defense's hands.  Mark Dantonio bet Michigan State would be able to stop a Wisconsin team now focused on conserving the lead, MSU timeouts would ensure the Spartans got another chance on offense, and this game would come down to one more Michigan State possession.  No matter who won, this would be a game for the ages.

It certainly was, but not for the reasons we expected.

First, there is little doubt the call on the field was fair.  Michigan State made the risky call to try for the punt block, the punter let his swing leg hang up in the air just an extra second longer, and Isaiah Lewis made just enough contact to warrant a call.  It was less a case of a punter acting than him taking advantage of an overeager defense and sheer physics.

That doesn't stop me from feeling a little unfulfilled.

This isn't directed at the subsection of Michigan State fans that will undoubtedly cry foul or develop long-winded conspiracy theories.  It isn't directed at Badger fans who will—and rightfully so—just keep repeating "scoreboard" every time a question of the call comes up.  This isn't even directed at the eternal debate over just how much an official should let slide at the end of a game to make sure that things still "play out on the field" (the correct answer, of course, is: A penalty is a penalty, whenever it happens).

This is for Big Ten fans.  Buckeyes and Boilermakers, Huskers and Hawkeyes, those of us going into the game with conflicted rooting interests but wanting a good game in prime time after years of hit-or-miss showings by Big Ten games.  The game actually turned out to be the best championship game of the weekend, far surpassing blowouts in Stillwater, Eugene, Atlanta and Charlotte.  While all the other games wrapped up, for the first time in December it was to be the Big Ten at center stage.  Long passed from "national relevance," these two teams fought for the same thing countless other Big Ten teams have fought for: roses.

Despite the Internet hoaxes and the middling BCS ranks, the Big Ten got its chance to step into the spotlight on Saturday.  In doing so, these two teams raised the level of excitement from the previous game and looked to be well on the way to playing one of the conference's all-time best games.

They fell two minutes short.

While it was still a great game despite the stomach-punch ending, I can't help but wonder what we missed out on seeing.