A Look Back on MSU's Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Victory
In 2012, the Michigan State Spartans were 6-6, largely struggling on offense outside of the Herculean effort from running back Le’Veon Bell.
Despite their struggles, the Spartans made a bowl game. They would take on the TCU Horned Frogs in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, looking to finish the year with a record above .500 for the third straight season.
The Horned Frogs were 7-5 and had a talented quarterback in Trevone Boykin. Michigan State had its work cut out for it.
The game started with a few punts before TCU put together an impressive drive that led to a Matthew Tucker touchdown, which put TCU up 7-0.
Michigan State could not get anything going in the first half. Andrew Maxwell was missing wide receivers, and Bell could not find much running room. The defense did its job not allowing TCU’s offense to explode on them, but the offense could not take advantage of those opportunities.
The Horned Frogs added two more field goals and took a 13-0 lead into the second half.
What could Mark Dantonio do to spark some fire in his team? There was no way he would allow his team to finish with a losing record.
Dantonio made a quarterback change in the second half. He pulled Maxwell in favor of Connor Cook.
Little did Dantonio know, this would change the future of Michigan State football.
On his first drive, Cook rushed for 11 yards, while Bell ran for 35. The Spartans ran a trick play where Bell took a Wildcat snap on third down, faked as if he was going to run, and threw it over the top to TyQuan Hammock, who took it into TCU territory.
Cook threw a slant to Aaron Burbridge, who took it into the end zone for a touchdown.
13-7. Michigan State was down by just a score.
On the ensuing Horned Frogs drive, TCU got into Michigan State territory but could not score. Boykin ran around too much on third down and was brought down by Kyler Elsworth and Trae Waynes.
The Spartans had to punt on their next possession, but Skye Dawson fumbled the ball inside TCU’s five-yard line. RJ Williamson recovered for Michigan State.
The Spartans were in business.
A walk-in touchdown from Bell gave Dantonio’s team the lead, 14-13.
It was up to the Michigan State defense to finish the job in the fourth quarter. Shilique Calhoun sacked Boykin. However, TCU kicked a field goal and took a 16-14 lead.
2:35 left. Cook needed to lead a game-winning drive.
He hit Bell on a pass for a first down. Then, he hit Dion Sims. A defensive holding on third down helped Michigan State move closer into TCU territory.
The Spartans sent Dan Conroy on to attempt the go-ahead field goal from 47 yards out.
He drilled it.
On third down with less than 30 seconds left, Elsworth flew in and brought a scrambling Boykin down. He heaved it downfield to nobody on fourth down, and that was it.
Michigan State 17, TCU 16.
Cook's entry into the game in the second half gave the Spartans the spark they needed to close out the game. He would go on to win two Big Ten Championships and a Rose Bowl en route to a 34-5 record as a starter with the Spartans, the best record for a quarterback in school history.
Although the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl is not widely remembered among the Spartan fanbase, it turned out to be a pivotal moment in Michigan State football history.
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