Several possessions later, AJ Troup made a spectacular catch in the bottom left-hand corner of the end-zone on a 17-yard pass from Connor Cook to put Michigan State up 21–0 going into the 2nd quarter.

The Spartan defense was dominant all game, only allowing 1 touchdown, recording 4 sacks, and 3 interceptions (Kurtis Drummond, Darian Hicks, and Nick Thompson respectively).

The Oregon offense, led by Heisman Trophy front runner Marcus Mariota, was quick to capitalize, scoring on a 1-yard Thomas Tyner run.

The Spartans would respond with a touchdown on their following drive, as Connor Cook and Jeremy Langford methodically led the offense down the field.

The MSU defense would stand tall on the following Oregon possession, forcing a punt and giving the offense an opportunity to take the lead going into halftime.

Michigan State had an opportunity to get back into the game late in Oregon territory, but a Connor Cook pass was deflected and intercepted by All-American candidate Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.

After another Eastern 3 and out, Michigan State scored again the following possession as Jeremy Langford made a defender miss on his way to the end-zone for a 21-yard touchdown run.

The defense forced Eastern to punt again, and once again, the offense took advantage, as Connor Cook hit Tony Lippett on the run for an 8-yard touchdown pass, giving Michigan State a 28–0 1st quarter lead.

Eastern would finally score their first points the following possession after a Rob Bolden pass to Tyler Allen that went for 43 yards, cutting the State lead to 49.

Following the Tyler O'Connor interception, Rob Bolden would find Tyreese Russell for a 9-yard touchdown pass to put the score at 59–14 MSU.

The MSU defense would force a punt, and the offense would go back to work, going 69 yards in 10 plays, capping the drive off with a 19-yard touchdown reception by Tony Lippett.

The Michigan State defense would come up big after a critical mistake on offense for the Spartans, putting Nebraska out of field goal range and forcing them to punt.

The Spartans would finally open the scoring on the following possession, as Tony Lippett made a 55-yard finger-tip catch and run touchdown reception, giving Michigan State a 7–0 lead.

However, the windy conditions would have an effect on the punt return, as Macgarrett Kings misjudged where the ball would land and muffed the catch, which was recovered by Nebraska at the MSU 24 yard line.

Nebraska would score again following a pass interference call against Trae Waynes on another short, 1 yard Ameer Abdullah run, cutting the Spartan lead to 11; 27–16 MSU.

Michigan State received the ball to open the game and quickly capitalized with a 75-yard scoring drive capped with 39 yard TD pass from Connor Cook to Tony Lippett.

MSU's offense again moved the ball down the field and again scored a TD after Aaron Burbridge caught a tough pass in the back of the end zone, advancing the lead to 31–17.

After several stalled drives by each teams and an intercepted Connor Cook pass by Tegray Scales, the Hoosiers took the lead after a Zander Diamont nine yard TD run.

In an apparent attempt to motivate each other, several Michigan players (led by linebacker Joe Bolden) gathered on the field during the national anthem and thrust a tent stake into the Spartan Stadium turf.

The penalty ended up not hurting the Spartans as Michigan senior quarterback Devin Gardner promptly fumbled the ball, giving it back to State.

MSU would drive down to the Michigan five yard line but a loss on a Langford run and a sack on Cook resulted in a 36-yard field goal attempt by Michael Geiger, which he missed.

On the first play of the drive, Connor Cook hit Tony Lippett on a perfectly thrown back shoulder catch that resulted in a 70-yard MSU touchdown.

MSU got the ball back after another three and out by Rutgers and again scored a TD when Nick Hill ran in on a one-yard run, giving the Spartans a 28–0 lead.

On third down Connor Cook threw an interception to defensive tackle Anthony Zettel, who returned it to the MSU 36 yard line with 43 seconds remaining in the half.

Michigan State finished with a 10–2 overall record, 7–1 in the Big ten, and would ultimately get invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, TX on January 1.

After stalled drives by both teams, Baylor tied the game on a 53-yard pass by wide receiver Jay Lee to Corey Coleman with 2:32 remaining in the quarter.

Five plays later Petty hit wide open backup offensive guard LaQuan McGowan for an 18-yard TD, which set off a wild celebration amongst the Baylor sideline and their fans throughout AT&T Stadium.

The ensuing play gave Baylor all of the momentum back as Connor Cook threw an interception to linebacker Taylor Young, who returned the ball all the way to the end zone for an apparent touchdown.

Bowl chairman Dan Novakov awarded MSU head coach Mark Dantonio the Field Scovell Trophy in a post game ceremony.

The Spartans sent off beloved defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, who had taken the Pittsburgh Panthers football head coaching job on December 23, with a memorable victory.