We had a thrilling ending to Saturday night’s game between No. 11 Michigan State and Indiana. The Spartans went into the locker room with a 7-0 lead at halftime, and scored another touchdown in the second half to take a 14-0 lead.
But then Indiana came out swinging, and scored three unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter. MSU was able to score with 11 seconds left on a two-yard touchdown pass to tie things up and force overtime.
Unfortunately, the Sparty offense couldn’t match that same productiveness, and Indiana’s defense forced them to try for a 49-yard field goal. Of course, because of #collegekickers it was no good.
Indiana then was up next for its possession. The Hoosiers got lucky on their first 33-yard field goal attempt. The kick went wide left, but MSU’s Drake Martinez was called for a “leaping” penalty on the kick. The penalty, in case you’re not familiar, is described per the NCAA rulebook as such:
A defensive player who runs forward from beyond the neutral zone and leaps from beyond the neutral zone in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try may land on any player(s).
The penalty set up Indiana for an easy 20-yard field goal. Hoosiers’ kicker Griffin Oakes made the kick to seal the Hoosiers’ 24-21 victory.
This marks the first Hoosier victory over Sparty since 2006, so they take back the rivalry’s trophy, which is a unique one to say the least — the Old Brass Spittoon. The trophy has been a part of this series since 1950.
This current Michigan State team looks a lot different than the one that beat Notre Dame two weeks ago. Sparty has now lost two straight, losing to Wisconsin 30-6 last week. The Big Ten East now looks like it’s led by No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan, who will play each other on Nov. 26.