Michigan State Football: Mark Dantonio’s 15 most memorable games
2. Stanford vs. MSU (2014)
The Rose Bowl had been over two decades in the making for Michigan State. The Spartans hadn’t won the Pasadena, Calif., based bowl since the late 1980s which was before any of the 2013 Spartans were even born.
Beating Ohio State in the Big Ten title game set up this huge matchup with Stanford and no one even expected Michigan State to be in this game.
Mind you, the season before, the Spartans were a mediocre 7-6 and didn’t have a set starting quarterback heading into the 2013 campaign. The offense could barely score, but then Connor Cook took over and never turned back. Michigan State was a well-oiled machine and rattled off nine-straight wins heading into the Rose Bowl.
The Spartans and Cardinal battled it out all game long and it the 100th Rose Bowl happened to be an instant classic. Cook had a whale of a game, passing for over 330 yards and two scores and the Spartans found themselves up 24-20 with about two minutes left.
Stanford had the ball on a 4th-and-one, looking to pick up a crucial first down with no timeouts left, but unsung hero Kyler Ellsworth had other plans.
Elsworth and Darien Harris leaped over the pile to make the game-saving stop and the Spartans took home the Rose Bowl trophy. Who would have guessed Max Bullough’s replacement would make the winning play?
Next: 1. Michigan (2015)