Michigan State Spartans vs Baylor Bears Match Player Stats On Jan 01, 2015

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Jan 1, 2015

No. 7 Michigan State 42, No. 5 Baylor 41: Connor Cook threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keith Mumphery on third-and-goal with 17 seconds left as the Spartans erased a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Bears in the highest-scoring Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, Texas.

After Michigan State blocked a 43-yard field goal attempt by Chris Callahan and R.J. Williamson returned the loose ball 26 yards to its 45, the Spartans advanced to the Baylor 10 before Cook found a wide-open Mumphery on a slant pattern. The Spartans set up the wild finish when they stopped the Bears on fourth-and-6 from the Michigan State 39 with 9:15 left and Jeremy Langford burst into the end zone nine plays later from 1-yard away to trim the deficit to 41-35 with 4:55 remaining.

Langford rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns for the Spartans (11-2), who won their fourth straight bowl game. Cook was 24-of-42 for 314 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, Josiah Price caught a TD pass and R.J. Shelton added a rushing score for Michigan State.

Bryce Petty was 36-of-51 for a Cotton Bowl record 550 yards and threw three touchdown passes while rushing for another in his final college game for Baylor (11-2), which was denied the first 12-win season in school history. Freshman KD Cannon hauled in scoring catches of 74 and 49 yards, Corey Coleman caught a 53-yard TD pass from wide receiver Jay Lee, and 6-7, 390-pound offensive guard LaQuan McGowan got into the act with an 18-yard TD catch for the Bears.

Baylor needed 2:17 to score on its first two possessions of the second half to take a 34-14 lead and went in front 41-21 when Petty found McGowan, who caught the pass at the 12 and rambled untouched into the end zone with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter. After Cook's 8-yard touchdown pass to Price made it 41-28 with 12:09 left, Michigan State recovered an onside kick but two plays later, Cook's ill-advised shovel pass while under pressure was intercepted by Taylor Young.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Langford, who rushed for 22 touchdowns this season - tying the school record set by Javon Ringer in 2008, extended his school-record streak with his 10th consecutive 100-yard rushing game. ... Petty finished his career by throwing a touchdown pass in a school-record 25 straight games while needing only 9 minutes, 59 seconds to direct the Bears' five TD drives. ... Baylor's Shawn Oakman, a 6-9, 280-pound junior DE, set the school record for sacks in a season with his 11th, breaking the previous mark of 10.5 set by Matthew Pearson in 1992. ... The previous highest-scoring Cotton Bowl came in 2009, when Ole Miss defeated Texas Tech 47-34.