Michigan State Football: Top 30 games in school history
17. MSU vs. Georgia (2012)
It’s hard to remember the last time Michigan State didn’t have an exciting bowl win. Well, I take that back, the 2011 Capital One Bowl blowout loss to Alabama is pretty tough to forget.
The following year, though, Michigan State looked to prove that the SEC wasn’t going to demolish the green and white for the second straight year as the Spartans drew a matchup with Georgia in the Outback Bowl.
Not exactly the ideal bowl game situation for the Spartans who were robbed of a trip to the Sugar Bowl after losing in the Big Ten Championship Game. That was the first instance of a team losing the Big Ten title game and getting punished for attending. Michigan made the Sugar Bowl, instead, during Brady Hoke’s first season.
That wouldn’t discourage Kirk Cousins and the Spartans, though. Michigan State started off extremely lethargic, trailing 16-0 at the half, but 14 quick points in the third quarter — one on a pick-six by Darqueze Dennard — quickly inserted MSU back in the game.
Regulation ended in a 27-27 tie and, yet again, it would take overtime to decide a Michigan State game.
After throwing an interception on the first possession of overtime, it looked like Cousins had just cost the Spartans the game. However, a missed 42-yarder by Georgia kept MSU alive.
The two teams traded field goals in the second overtime and Michigan State began the third with another field goal. Georgia couldn’t get anything going offensively and was led to attempt a field goal of its own, only to have it blocked and Mark Dantonio got his first bowl win as the Spartans’ head coach.
Next: 16. MSU vs. Notre Dame (2000)