BTN.com staff, December 7, 2013
(AP) Michigan State shook up the BCS title chase again Saturday night. The No. 10 Spartans regained the lead on Connor Cook's 9-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Price with 11:41 left and upset No. 2 Ohio State 34-24 to take the Big Ten title and put Auburn back in the national title hunt.
"Coach (Mark Dantonio) said, 'You're the ones.' We're the ones, we're going to the Rose Bowl," Cook said after being selected the game's MVP.
Ohio State (12-1) had the nation's longest active winning streak end at 24 as coach Urban Meyer suffered his first loss since taking over in Columbus.
It was a game that almost defied logic.
The Spartans (12-1) led 17-0 after 21 minutes, then gave up the next 24 points before scoring the final 17.
Michigan State sealed the victory, and its probable trip to the Rose Bowl, with Jeremy Langford's late 26-yard TD run. The Spartans haven't played in Pasadena since 1988.
For the Spartans, it was a monumental win.
They have won 12 games in a season for the first time, won their ninth straight for the first time since starting 9-0 in 1966 and are likely headed to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1988 – though Dantonio said earlier this week he thought Michigan State could have a claim on the BCS game with a win. The only thing that could keep the Spartans out was a 17-13 loss at Notre Dame on Sept. 21.
"We were inches away but our team was resilient last year, so we felt coming into this season if we could find our identity and pushed it a little bit, we'd get there," Dantonio said during the celebration. "We believed, we believed."
