Michigan State Football: Top 10 games of the Mark Dantonio Era
6. Wisconsin (2011)
The 2011 game against Wisconsin ended in a way that many games have for the Spartans in 2015 — with the opposing team going home in shock.
With the game tied at 31, it looked like another overtime game in Spartan Stadium as the No. 6 Badgers were tough to put away. A nine-point lead at halftime was quickly erased by Wisconsin in the fourth quarter and it seemed like Russell Wilson and Wisconsin had what it took to defeat Mark Dantonio’s No. 16 Spartans in East Lansing.
Just seconds were left on the clock and Michigan State possessed the ball on Wisconsin’s 44-yard-line. Instead of allowing Dan Conroy to attempt a highly-unlikely 60-yard field goal, Dantonio let Kirk Cousins air it out with a Hail Mary as time expired.
Usually desperate heaves into the end zone end in bat-downs or interceptions, but the Spartans got the right bounce off B.J. Cunningham’s facemask which ended up in the arms of gunslinger-turned-receiver Keith Nichol as he wrestled a Wisconsin defender for the final inch to cross the goal-line.
Nichol was marked down at the half-yard line, but the play was reviewed and called a touchdown. Spartan Stadium erupted and it was as loud as I’ve ever heard it.
Next: 5. Georgia (2012)