Out of all the automatic qualifying conferences for the BCS, the Big 10 is one of the worst. The SEC dominates the national title games, the Pac 12 dominates the Rose Bowl, and the Big 10 loses the Rose Bowl. But yesterday, the Big 10 broke their postseason spell and not only won a few games, but kept in close in their losses. The conference's biggest win came against the Stanford Cardinal. After getting dogged for not having enough talent to send a team to the BCS National Championship game, the Big 10 finally gets some vindication.
Even though the Big 10 hasn't been great in their bowl games the last few years (they are 2-4 this year as well) they have shown up in their big games this year. Nebraska beat a depleted Georgia team, Iowa hung in there with LSU, and Wisconsin only lost by 10 to South Carolina. But in the Rose Bowl, Michigan State beat Stanford and saved the Big 10 from losing the entire season. The Big 10 had a 1-9 record going into this game. This win is big for the Big 10 (pun intended).
Michigan State had the perfect formula to win. They played great defense (they're the best in the nation, especially with Darquez Dennard in tow) and Stanford's play calling was too conservative down the stretch. Connor Cook made big plays late in the game and the Stanford defense simply wasn't able to stop the Spartans. Stanford was aggressive early on and got out to a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter. After a few mistakes, the game changed momentum and both went back and forth until Michigan State pulled away.
Kevin Hogan didn't throw any touchdowns, and the team focused primarily on the run. Michigan State's defense held up well and they overcame their first double-digit deficit of the season to win the game.
For Stanford, their season peaked when they upset Oregon, but their losses kept them from getting into the national championship game. For Michigan State, they won their last 10 games, which included wins over then #2 Ohio State and #5 Stanford. They've vastly improved and single-handedly kept the Big 10 relevant. Offensively they were non-existent early on, but Connor Cook improved his game and finished with 22 TDs and 2,755 yards passing.
While most still think the Big 10 is inferior compared to the Pac 12 and the SEC, it still has its moments. The teams aren't the best, but they still give us good games. It was a good Rose Bowl, and certainly, what Mark Dantonio has done to rebuild the team is remarkable. Congrats to Michigan State for winning the 100th Rose Bowl.