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Michigan State Football: Ranking the 5 best moments of the 2010s

By Connor Muldowney

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)
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) /
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PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 01: Linebacker Kyler Elsworth #41 Michigan State Spartans dives into the pile to help stop the Stanford Cardinal on fourth down to take possesion in the final moments of their 24-20 win in 100th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2014 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 01: Linebacker Kyler Elsworth #41 Michigan State Spartans dives into the pile to help stop the Stanford Cardinal on fourth down to take possesion in the final moments of their 24-20 win in 100th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2014 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

1. Kyle Elsworth’s epic stop in the Rose Bowl (2014)

Just like the Big Ten Championship Game about a month earlier, the Rose Bowl was one heck of a battle for Michigan State. The Spartans’ best team in decades finished the season 12-1 and had to face off against a solid Stanford team and many felt that this team was slighted from a national title berth — we can all thank that Notre Dame game earlier in the year.

The game was overshadowed by the suspension of Max Bullough, though. The middle linebacker wouldn’t be playing in the final game of his career, instead giving way to Kyler Elsworth, a lightly-used former walk-on.

Little did fans know he would make the biggest play of the season for Michigan State, jumping over a pile of linemen to stop Stanford’s fullback short on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter to give the Spartans a Rose Bowl win to cap off a 13-1 campaign.

The one yard seemed to be an easy pick-up for the Cardinal who had been known for running the ball well and with a purpose, but Elsworth put his body on the line to get the stop and the Spartan sidelines went nuts.

dark. Next. MSU basketball's all-decade starting five

Rich Homie Quan helped the Spartans celebrate in the locker room after the win and that should go down as one of the best moments of the decade in its own right — making Mark Dantonio dance.

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