Post-Game Notes: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl vs. Pittsburgh
12/31/2021 3:12:00 AM | Football
TEAM/PROGRAM
No. 10 Michigan State defeated ACC Champion and No. 12 Pittsburgh, 31-21, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium . . . the Spartans finished the season with an 11-2 record, marking just the sixth time in school history MSU has won 11 games in a season (11 in 2010; 11 in 2011; 13 in 2013; 11 in 2014; 12 in 2015; 11 in 2021).
Making its first appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Spartans won their second New Year's Six Bowl (2015 Cotton Bowl over Baylor) in program history . . . MSU has won seven of its last nine bowl games (2012 Outback Bowl over Georgia, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU, 2014 Rose Bowl over Stanford, 2015 Cotton Bowl over Baylor, 2017 Holiday Bowl over Washington State, 2019 Pinstripe Bowl over Wake Forest, 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl over Pittsburgh).
Michigan State completed its biggest turnaround in school history, going from two wins in 2020 to 11 wins in 2021 (nine-game improvement; previous record: seven games in 2017).
The Spartans outscored the Panthers in the fourth quarter, 21-0 . . . trailing 21-10 midway through the fourth quarter, MSU scored three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the game to rally for the 31-21 win.
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker is just the second Spartan coach to win 11 games in a season (previous five seasons of at least 11 wins by Mark Dantonio).
Tucker becomes just the fourth Spartan coach to win his first bowl game as a head coach (Biggie Munn, 1954 Rose; Duffy Daugherty, 1956 Rose; Bobby Williams, 2000 Citrus) . . . including his time as a graduate assistant and assistant coach, Tucker is now 9-3 in bowl/playoff games.
Tucker improves to 7-5 against AP Top 25 opponents as a head coach (5-3 at MSU) . . . the Spartans defeated three ranked teams in 2021 (AP: No. 24 Miami, No. 6 Michigan, No. 13 Pittsburgh).
MSU improved to 7-0-1 all-time against Pittsburgh . . . Thursday night was the first time the two teams played in each other in a bowl game.
Former Spartan All-American and Pro Football Hall of Famer Morten Andersen served as MSU's honorary captain for the game.
OFFENSE
Jayden Reed was named the Offensive MVP after catching two touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score from 22 yards out with just 2:51 on the clock that put MSU on top, 22-21 . . . Reed also scored on a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter . . . Reed finished the game with six catches for 80 yards to put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season (59 catches for 1,026 yards) . . . it's just the 10th 1,000-yard receiving season in Michigan State history and the ninth-most receiving yards in a Spartan season . . . Reed had 105 all-purpose yards, including 25 on punt returns.
Payton Thorne threw three touchdowns (28 yards to Jayden Reed in first quarter; 15 yards to Connor Heyward in fourth quarter; 22 yards to Reed in fourth quarter) to set a school record for the most passing touchdowns in a single season . . . Thorne finished the season with 27 passing TDs, surpassing Kirk Cousins, who had 25 passing TDs in 2011 . . . Thorne had five games this season with at least three TDs.
Thorne posted career highs in passing yards (354), passing completions (29) and passing attempts (50) . . . Thorne's 29 completions were a Spartan single-game bowl record, and the 50 passing attempts tied for the most . . . his 354 passing yards were second most by a Spartan in a bowl game, trailing only Jeff Smoker's 376 passing yards in the 2001 Silicon Valley Bowl, and the 12th most overall in school history . . . Thorne was 14-of-19 passing for 144 yards in the fourth quarter to spark MSU's comeback . . . Thorne's 3,233 passing yards in 2021 were the third most in an MSU single season (Jeff Smoker with 3,395 in 2003; Kirk Cousins with 3,316 in 2011) and his 3,414 yards of total offense ranked third most (Brian Lewerke with 3,442 in 2019; Drew Stanton with 3,415 in 2005).
Jalen Nailor returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Oct. 30 and led the Spartans with six catches for 108 yards . . . he also led MSU with 124 all-purpose yards (16 kick return yards) . . . MSU was 9-0 this season with Nailor in the starting lineup.
Connor Heyward, playing in his last game as a Spartan, caught a season-best five passes for 37 yards, including a diving 15-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter . . . he also gained 7 yards on a fake punt in the third quarter.
Michigan State held a 410-274 advantage in total offense and had 25 first downs compared to Pitt's 14 . . . the Spartans were 10-of-21 on third downs and 3-of-4 on fourth downs.
MSU's opening TD drive of three plays for 29 yards in 0:45 was the Spartans' eighth TD drive less than 1:00 . . . the three-play scoring drive was Michigan State's
11th TD scoring drive this season in three plays or less . . . the 29-yard scoring drive was MSU's third-shortest TD drive of the season and third of less than 30 yards, with both previous times coming at Miami with 13 and 23-yard TD drives.
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DEFENSE
Cal Haladay was named the Defensive MVP after leading the Spartans with 11 tackles and sealing the victory with a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with just 22 seconds remaining in the game . . . it was the longest interception return for a TD in Spartan bowl history and the eighth-longest INT return for a touchdown in school history . . . it marked the second pick six of the season for Haladay (30 yards at Indiana) . . . Haladay finished the season with a team-best 96 tackles.
Michigan State recorded five sacks, second most in a game this season (seven vs. Nebraska on Sept. 25) . . . Jacob Slade and Brandon Wright each had a career-best 1.5 sacks . . . Slade also tied his career high with two TFLs for 11 yards . . . MSU's 10 tackles for loss were also second most in 2021 (11 vs. Nebraska).
Playing in his final game as a Spartan, Jacub Panasiuk had two TFLs for 13 yards, including a 10-yard sack, to go along with four tackles overall . . . Panasiuk finishes his Spartan career with 32 tackles for loss and 16 sacks.
Making his fourth straight start, Noah Harvey collected a season-high seven tackles, including a 1-yard loss.
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SPECIAL TEAMS
Matt Coghlin became Michigan State's all-time leading scorer with his first extra point of the game, surpassing Brett Swenson for the top spot in the school record books . . . Coghlin finished his six-year Spartan career with 382 career points . . . he also holds the school record for most field goals, and added to his record total with his 76th career field goal with a 36-yarder in the first quarter . . . the 76 field goals are second most in Big Ten history, trailing only Penn State's Kevin Kelly with 78 . . . Coghlin finished his career 148-for-148 in PATs, becoming just the 28th player in FBS history to make 100 percent of his PAT attempts (minimum of 100).
Bryce Baringer boomed a 53-yard punt, his 26th punt of 50+ yards this season and 40th for his career . . . Baringer finished the season with a school single-season record for punting average (48.4-yard avg.).
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No. 10 Michigan State defeated ACC Champion and No. 12 Pittsburgh, 31-21, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium . . . the Spartans finished the season with an 11-2 record, marking just the sixth time in school history MSU has won 11 games in a season (11 in 2010; 11 in 2011; 13 in 2013; 11 in 2014; 12 in 2015; 11 in 2021).
Making its first appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Spartans won their second New Year's Six Bowl (2015 Cotton Bowl over Baylor) in program history . . . MSU has won seven of its last nine bowl games (2012 Outback Bowl over Georgia, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU, 2014 Rose Bowl over Stanford, 2015 Cotton Bowl over Baylor, 2017 Holiday Bowl over Washington State, 2019 Pinstripe Bowl over Wake Forest, 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl over Pittsburgh).
Michigan State completed its biggest turnaround in school history, going from two wins in 2020 to 11 wins in 2021 (nine-game improvement; previous record: seven games in 2017).
The Spartans outscored the Panthers in the fourth quarter, 21-0 . . . trailing 21-10 midway through the fourth quarter, MSU scored three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the game to rally for the 31-21 win.
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker is just the second Spartan coach to win 11 games in a season (previous five seasons of at least 11 wins by Mark Dantonio).
Tucker becomes just the fourth Spartan coach to win his first bowl game as a head coach (Biggie Munn, 1954 Rose; Duffy Daugherty, 1956 Rose; Bobby Williams, 2000 Citrus) . . . including his time as a graduate assistant and assistant coach, Tucker is now 9-3 in bowl/playoff games.
Tucker improves to 7-5 against AP Top 25 opponents as a head coach (5-3 at MSU) . . . the Spartans defeated three ranked teams in 2021 (AP: No. 24 Miami, No. 6 Michigan, No. 13 Pittsburgh).
MSU improved to 7-0-1 all-time against Pittsburgh . . . Thursday night was the first time the two teams played in each other in a bowl game.
Former Spartan All-American and Pro Football Hall of Famer Morten Andersen served as MSU's honorary captain for the game.
OFFENSE
Jayden Reed was named the Offensive MVP after catching two touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score from 22 yards out with just 2:51 on the clock that put MSU on top, 22-21 . . . Reed also scored on a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter . . . Reed finished the game with six catches for 80 yards to put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season (59 catches for 1,026 yards) . . . it's just the 10th 1,000-yard receiving season in Michigan State history and the ninth-most receiving yards in a Spartan season . . . Reed had 105 all-purpose yards, including 25 on punt returns.
Payton Thorne threw three touchdowns (28 yards to Jayden Reed in first quarter; 15 yards to Connor Heyward in fourth quarter; 22 yards to Reed in fourth quarter) to set a school record for the most passing touchdowns in a single season . . . Thorne finished the season with 27 passing TDs, surpassing Kirk Cousins, who had 25 passing TDs in 2011 . . . Thorne had five games this season with at least three TDs.
Thorne posted career highs in passing yards (354), passing completions (29) and passing attempts (50) . . . Thorne's 29 completions were a Spartan single-game bowl record, and the 50 passing attempts tied for the most . . . his 354 passing yards were second most by a Spartan in a bowl game, trailing only Jeff Smoker's 376 passing yards in the 2001 Silicon Valley Bowl, and the 12th most overall in school history . . . Thorne was 14-of-19 passing for 144 yards in the fourth quarter to spark MSU's comeback . . . Thorne's 3,233 passing yards in 2021 were the third most in an MSU single season (Jeff Smoker with 3,395 in 2003; Kirk Cousins with 3,316 in 2011) and his 3,414 yards of total offense ranked third most (Brian Lewerke with 3,442 in 2019; Drew Stanton with 3,415 in 2005).
Jalen Nailor returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Oct. 30 and led the Spartans with six catches for 108 yards . . . he also led MSU with 124 all-purpose yards (16 kick return yards) . . . MSU was 9-0 this season with Nailor in the starting lineup.
Connor Heyward, playing in his last game as a Spartan, caught a season-best five passes for 37 yards, including a diving 15-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter . . . he also gained 7 yards on a fake punt in the third quarter.
Michigan State held a 410-274 advantage in total offense and had 25 first downs compared to Pitt's 14 . . . the Spartans were 10-of-21 on third downs and 3-of-4 on fourth downs.
MSU's opening TD drive of three plays for 29 yards in 0:45 was the Spartans' eighth TD drive less than 1:00 . . . the three-play scoring drive was Michigan State's
11th TD scoring drive this season in three plays or less . . . the 29-yard scoring drive was MSU's third-shortest TD drive of the season and third of less than 30 yards, with both previous times coming at Miami with 13 and 23-yard TD drives.
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DEFENSE
Cal Haladay was named the Defensive MVP after leading the Spartans with 11 tackles and sealing the victory with a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with just 22 seconds remaining in the game . . . it was the longest interception return for a TD in Spartan bowl history and the eighth-longest INT return for a touchdown in school history . . . it marked the second pick six of the season for Haladay (30 yards at Indiana) . . . Haladay finished the season with a team-best 96 tackles.
Michigan State recorded five sacks, second most in a game this season (seven vs. Nebraska on Sept. 25) . . . Jacob Slade and Brandon Wright each had a career-best 1.5 sacks . . . Slade also tied his career high with two TFLs for 11 yards . . . MSU's 10 tackles for loss were also second most in 2021 (11 vs. Nebraska).
Playing in his final game as a Spartan, Jacub Panasiuk had two TFLs for 13 yards, including a 10-yard sack, to go along with four tackles overall . . . Panasiuk finishes his Spartan career with 32 tackles for loss and 16 sacks.
Making his fourth straight start, Noah Harvey collected a season-high seven tackles, including a 1-yard loss.
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SPECIAL TEAMS
Matt Coghlin became Michigan State's all-time leading scorer with his first extra point of the game, surpassing Brett Swenson for the top spot in the school record books . . . Coghlin finished his six-year Spartan career with 382 career points . . . he also holds the school record for most field goals, and added to his record total with his 76th career field goal with a 36-yarder in the first quarter . . . the 76 field goals are second most in Big Ten history, trailing only Penn State's Kevin Kelly with 78 . . . Coghlin finished his career 148-for-148 in PATs, becoming just the 28th player in FBS history to make 100 percent of his PAT attempts (minimum of 100).
Bryce Baringer boomed a 53-yard punt, his 26th punt of 50+ yards this season and 40th for his career . . . Baringer finished the season with a school single-season record for punting average (48.4-yard avg.).
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Players Mentioned
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