Michigan State Beats Iowa On Last-Minute Touchdown

In a crazy Big Ten Championship Game, No. 5 Michigan State defeated No. 4 Iowa, 16-13, on a last-minute touchdown that ended Iowa’s undefeated season.

Michigan State was trailing 13-9 with 9:31 to go in the game, and needed a score bad.

So quarterback Connor Cook and running back L.J. Scott took over. After a thrilling fourth-down conversion by Cook, Scott was stopped twice by the Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes took a timeout. They had Scott stopped, but he bulled through, scoring with 26 seconds to go. 16-13, Spartans. “I was just trying to make a play for my brothers,” said Scott. “We knew what we had at stake.”

Iowa had one last chance to tie or win the game, but a nine-yard pass on third down was fumbled, and the Spartans recovered to knock off Iowa from the ranks of the unbeaten and the College Football Playoff.

Cook did not look great until the end, and he looked rattled at times.

But the senior quarterback was still named MVP for that late-game drive, becoming the first ever player to get the nod for game MVP twice.

The other team, meanwhile, finds themselves out of the playoff hunt. “It’s tough,” quarterback C.J. Beathard said. “You’ve gone all season and haven’t experienced what it’s like to lose a game. Every time we’ve gone to the locker room after the game it’s been exciting. It’s just tough because losing a game like that when it’s that close, it’s hard to handle.”

Until the final drive, it looked like Iowa had their ticket punched. Their vaunted defense had held Michigan State to three field goals, then Beathard opened up the fourth quarter with an 85 yard touchdown pass to Tevaun Smith.

But then the Spartans took over, and the rest is history.

“Our football team knows how to win. We can play it out,” said Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio. “We don’t count ourselves out. When some things aren’t going well, we keep playing as evidenced by the game.”

PHOTO: INDIANAPOLIS, IN – DECEMBER 05: LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans runs for the game winning touchdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 5, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)