As the old saying goes, "Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it." No saying, proverb, or maxim could hold truer for the 2015 Cotton Bowl. Michigan State was long gone, MIA, dead, buried, and non-existent from the second quarter until just after half-way through the third quarter. The Spartans were resurrected by the book of Dantonio and showed a resiliency they've embodied all year. Down twenty points in the fourth quarter the Spartans battled all the way back to beat Baylor 42-41, in a game that will go down in Spartan lore.
Two games come to mind while thinking about that game. Two high scoring losses, to two elite teams. The storyline was the same as the Oregon and Ohio State games. High powered opposing offense, secondary plays weak for Spartans, and the offense goes bipolar. Those two games, were the epitome of Spartan football in 2014. In 2014 the Spartans would have lost. A bad false start, incomplete pass, or turnover would have stopped the Spartan's comeback. But 2015 is not 2014. The calendar flipped and it was a new year. The Spartans left the losing to elites in 2014. In 2015, they finished the job.
Down and out early to Bryce Petty, the Spartans again found themselves being torched by a fast offense and a cannon of an arm. It looked and felt as those games felt. 41-21 in the fourth quarter the D was still giving up yards through the air. But a stop here and two touchdowns later it's 41-35. If resilience is to be defining word of the game we must use it to describe the man that lead the charge. Connor Cook threw a pick, driving, down two touchdown, and he forgot about all of it. Next possession he leads MSU down 60 yards to come within a touchdown. A huge blocked kick sets up the winning play and then, Cook delivers the final blow on an 81 yard drive with one swift motion and a strike to Kieth Mumphery. 42-41.
Cook was jittery and off his game after the first quarter and the offense broke down occasionally. However, he was the hero at the end. It's not how you start, it's about how you finish. And Cook finished. The kid is a winner and he was calm and collected at the end on that final drive. As the clock ran out the joy and elation that illuminated his face was inspiring. A man that has conquered top teams now in his two bowl starts.
Michigan State has now won four straight bowl games, lead but eventually lost to the nations top two teams this year, beat two top ten teams in bowl games the past two years, and will finish in the top ten for the second straight year. Michigan State has proved they can compete, while not dominant, they still won and that's the only thing that will. The W in the win column is all that matters. A win is a win and always will be. Games can be broken down, over analyzed, and talked about, but all that matters is the W. That's what MSU walks away with. A W and new hope and brighter tomorrow in the college football world.
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