Party on: Spartans are Big Ten East champs

EAST LANSING – It’s all there for you, Michigan State.

Your starting quarterback, throwing pretty passes again. Your defense, scoring to offset the occasional mistake. Your offensive linemen, controlling the trenches and getting a touchdown of their own.

Your coach, making more history. Your Big Ten East championship, earned with a 55-16 demolition of Penn State in front of 74,705 roaring, rollicking fans Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

Your chance at a national championship, one more big win from becoming reality.

“This is what we’ve been working for since January -- we’ve been talking about it, now it’s time to speak it into existence,” MSU sophomore safety Montae Nicholson said of a dream that seemed distant just three weeks earlier after a 39-38 loss at Nebraska.

“Just so happy, going back to Indy,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said of the upcoming Big Ten title game against Iowa at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. “So step one, accomplished. I thought we reached a little higher this year, we’re 11-1 and we’ve put ourself in position to play for a Big Ten championship. And that’s step No. 2.”

And though No.6 MSU (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. No.3 Iowa (12-0, 8-0) isn’t officially a College Football Playoff “play-in” game, the winner should be in. Dantonio said he “would think” this game is for one of the four playoff spots, and Notre Dame's loss a few hours later to Stanford strengthened that thought.

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Dantonio's team, which was No.5 in the latest CFP rankings, enters that opportunity with full momentum. Senior quarterback Connor Cook returned from the right shoulder sprain that held him out of last week’s 17-14 win at Ohio State, and he was terrific in his final home game.

Cook finished 19-for-26 for 248 yards and three touchdowns, becoming MSU’s all-time leader in total offense in the process. MSU got a 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown from Demetrious Cox; a 13-yard Malik McDowell interception return for a touchdown after Shilique Calhoun tipped a pass; and a 9-yard cherry-on-top touchdown run from center Jack Allen, one of 23 seniors honored before the game.

Those seniors now have 42 wins, tied with the past two senior classes for the most in school history.

“I know for a fact for me, for all the other guys, the seniors, when we’re one win away … when we’re in a situation where it’s win or go home, we’re gonna come out ready to play,” Cook said. “And we’re gonna play fast and we’re not gonna be denied. We’re not gonna let someone come in here and take away what we want.”

MSU will participate in the Big Ten title game for the third time in its five years of existence. And Dantonio is now the first coach in Big Ten history to reach 11 wins in five of six seasons – Michigan’s Fielding Yost and Ohio State’s Jim Tressel both did it four times in five seasons.

Penn State (7-5, 4-4) got 257 passing yards from Christian Hackenberg but never led and let things get out of hand late. It was 20-10 at the half, but Cook led consecutive touchdown drives after the break to get the party started.

“We had to play this football game and take it, as opposed to staying cautious and sitting back and saying, ‘Hey, I hope we don’t lose,’” Dantonio said. “We had to play this game to win. And that’s the mentality our guys went out with. I mean, our whole football team, all 115 players who were out there dressed, felt that energy. And that creates even more energy. And that’s what we have right now, and we’ll play a good Iowa team that has the same type of energy.”