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The Michigan State Spartans(5-4, 2-3) are flying high right now. They have their rival, the Wisconsin Badgers(6-3, 3-2), for the third time in as many seasons. This was a rematch of last season’s Big Ten Championship game in which the Badgers topped the Spartans 42-39 in a close, down-to-the-wire game.
Since 2007, all but one of the games between these two teams have been within one score. The last four meetings have all been decided in the final minutes and none have been by more than a six point margin.
It’s clear that these two teams have a budding rivalry that is seemingly growing into a fierce one, on the verge of a Michigan-Michigan State type of rivalry.
Michigan State finally came together to win in the final minutes of the game, something they have had a hard time doing all season long. How did they fare at each position?
Quarterbacks: A-
The quarterback coach must have gotten in Andrew Maxwell‘s ear in the past two weeks following the team’s loss to Iowa at home in which Maxwell had possibly his worst game of the season. He has looked improved since then and took it to the Badgers on Saturday, completing 24 of 39 passes for 217 and two touchdowns.
He engineered the game-tying drive and touchdown with just over a minute left in regulation and the game-winning 12-yard touchdown pass to Bennie Fowler in overtime. He looked comfortable behind center and this could be a defining moment in Maxwell’s young career.
Running Backs: C+
The conference’s leading rusher has been Le’Veon Bell for the better portion of the season and has proven himself as one of the better running backs in the country. Bell rushed for just 77 yards on 21 carries Saturday in a defensive battle.
The junior running back may have seen his draft stock fall a bit, but he is definitely one of the top three in the conference and just eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark against the Badgers for the first time in his three-year collegiate career. He will come back from this tough outing and take it to a less-impressive Nebraska defense.
Receivers: A-
The receivers may have had their best game of the season. Seemingly everyone got into the action, with the exception of freshman Aaron Burbridge, and Bennie Fowler had the game that could finally get his confidence off the ground.
Although Maxwell’s new favorite target, Burbridge, had no catches, he was used as a decoy to get the other receivers open. Fowler had six catches for 48 yards and the game-winning touchdown and Tony Lippitt chipped in with his best game of the season, catching five passes for 49 yards. Everyone made the tough catches when they needed to and helped out Andrew Maxwell immensely.
Offensive Line: B
The offensive line has had their fare share of injuries and poor play. They are returning to near-full strength and look better as the weeks progress. Although Maxwell had a lot of time to throw the ball because of the improved pass protection, the run-blocking still needs some work as Bell had a tough time finding an open running lane. They are much better as a unit, but still have a ways to go.
Defensive Line: A
It’d be hard to give this unit anything lower than an A grade. The defensive line looked great once again, not that it’s any surprise, as they contained Montee Ball all game long and held him to just 46 yards on 22 carries. This has been the best effort of the season at containing the senior running back as he couldn’t get anything going.
The pass rush was just as impressive. They recorded a season-high five sacks and forced Joel Stave out of the game with a vicious hit by William Gholston. This is the best defense in the Big Ten for a reason.
Linebackers: A-
Max Bullough had his best game of the season, recording nine tackles, including his first two sacks of the season. He looked great, playing all over the field and seemingly chipping in on every tackle.
The crew as a whole has been solid all season and this game was no different. Behind Bullough, Denicos Allen and newly-appointed starter Taiwan Jones held Ball in check and prevented any big running plays. They were a big reason why backup quarterback Danny O’Brien struggled after filling in for Stave.
Defensive Backs: B-
The defensive backs had a tale of two halves. In the first half, the defensive backs had a hard time staying with the receivers as Stave completed nine of 11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown.
The second half was much better, they seemed to be on top of every screen pass and held the receivers in check. O’Brien completed just five of 11 passes for just 44 yards and kept the Badgers out of the endzone for the remainder of the game.
Special Teams: B
Nothing really too notable in terms of special teams for the Spartans other than a made field goal, so they get an average grade. They struggled to get anything on punt returns and the kickoff returns received the same lack of return yards.
The punt unit, led by punter Mike Sadler, stood out and made the special teams grade as high as it is. He pinned many punts deep in Wisconsin territory, a number of which actually landed inside the 10-yard line. Great game for him as that helped the Spartan defense.
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