Watch Video: MSU coach Mark Dantonio on going for two O’Connor tried to force it in to tight end Jamal Lyles, but it never made it as Worley came up with the ball. Tight end Josiah Price was the primary read but he was covered by two defenders. Everybody was all-in for going for it and I liked the call.” We don’t play for second place, obviously. “I love the way Coach D goes about the pressure situations.
“I like the call,” said O’Connor, who was 6-for-16 with two interceptions. The Spartans (3-8, 1-7 Big Ten) did get the ball back at their 20 with 2:04 to play, but O’Connor was sacked and then threw an interception to end the game. So I felt like either way we still had an opportunity to win the game.” So we were moving the football a little bit, especially running it, we had some big plays. “But I felt like we still had an opportunity with four minutes to go that the risk would be if we stopped them we still had the opportunity to get the ball back and kick a field goal and win the football game. They had us covered on that particular play, so good job by them.īOX SCORE: Ohio State 17, Michigan State 16 So that’s what I felt like we wanted to do and so we had a number of play selections. “We were gonna take an aggressive approach and play to win the football game rather than tie the football game at the end. “We said if we get close at the end of the game we’re going for two,” Dantonio said. The kicking team was nowhere to be found and the offense stayed on the field.īut following the theme of this season, Michigan State came up one play short as Tyler O’Connor’s pass was intercepted in the end zone by Ohio State’s Chris Worley and the second-ranked Buckeyes held on for the 17-16 victory. LJ Scott had just scored from a yard out on an eight-play drive that consisted only of runs by Scott, and the Spartans trailed by a point.Īnd Dantonio didn’t hesitate. Well, that’s exactly where the Spartans stood with 4:41 left on the clock in the final home game of the season in front of 73,303 at Spartan Stadium. View Gallery: Ohio State 17, Michigan State 16Įast Lansing – Mark Dantonio had talked about it all week – if Michigan State had the chance to go for two on Saturday and beat No.