5 memorable times Michigan State football captured the Paul Bunyan Trophy since 2000

After a brutal collapse on the road at Rutgers a week ago, it’s hard to be positive about a lot with the Michigan State football program currently. Unfortunately, things don’t get any easier this week with the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines coming to Spartan Stadium on Saturday night.

Needless to say, there’s not many feeling confident going into this latest installment of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. However, the Spartans have won 10 of the last 15 matchups for the Paul Bunyan Trophy, and there have been some pretty epic moments to date.

There’s no better way to get the juices flowing for Saturday then to take a look back at some of the more notable moments to happen in recent memory.

2001: “Clockgate”

This matchup between the top 10 Wolverines and unranked Spartans was littered In controversy. Michigan State found themselves down 24-20 at home in the final moments of the fourth quarter.

Led by quarterback Jeff Smoker, they found themselves inside the 5-yard line with no timeouts. After scrambling for the end zone and being tackled inbounds, Smoker frantically got his offense to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and stop the clock.

It’s argued that the clock should’ve expired, but Smoker spiked the ball with a second left. It eventually led to a lob pass in the end zone for running back TJ Duckett, and the Spartans pulled off the upset. A pretty exciting way to kick off our list.