Reliving the 4 times Michigan State football upset top-ranked Ohio State

1. Connor Cook-less upset, 2015

Of each of the games on this list, this one was likely the hardest to watch from the perspective of an Ohio State fan. This team had everything: a legendary coach, star quarterback and a Heisman candidate running back. They returned almost everybody after winning the first College Football Playoff National Championship a year prior.

Michigan State looked good, but after losing starting quarterback Connor Cook to a shoulder injury, the Spartans’ odds of winning nearly vanished on the road.

But it was the Spartans’ defense that would keep them in a game against an Ohio State team that averaged 36 points per game to this point in the year. In fact, Ohio State’s only two scores came off of a fumble and a muffed punt return attempt. Michigan State knew the offense would turn the ball over against a feisty defense, so they played an old school, conservative style of offense.

This paid off, as they would only allow one offensive turnover with two backup quarterbacks playing.

Michigan State then, on a classic Spartan drive, ran the ball down the middle with LJ Scott until there was almost no time left on the clock. This would lead them to field goal range, where Michael Geiger hit the game-winner and proceeded to windmill his arm about 95 times in a celebration that made no sense, but was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

This would be the last victory we’d see against the Buckeyes, but it was a sweet one.

The victory sent the Spartans to the Big Ten Championship Game. They’d win this and get a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time.