Michigan State Beats Wisconsin in Overtime, 34-28
10/15/2022 8:20:00 PM | Football
Thorne completed 21-of-28 passes for 265 yards and threw two touchdown passes, while Reed caught nine passes for 117 yards and one score and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime, and sophomore wide receiver Keon Coleman had five receptions for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore running back Jalen Berger carried the ball 16 times for 60 yards and had one touchdown and senior running back Elijah Collins has 14 for 43 yards and a score.
Senior linebacker Jacoby Windmon led the defensive unit with 11 tackles, including two for loss, while redshirt sophomore Cal Haladay had nine tackles, junior safety Angelo Grose had eight tackles and freshman defensive back Dillon Tatum added six stops. Windmon caused both turnovers - he had his first career interception in the first quarter, and forced a fumble on Wisconsin's second possession of overtime.
It marked MSU's first win in overtime since a 23-20 win over Nebraska last season in Spartan Stadium.
"Just really proud of our guys tonight, just the way they stuck with it," said MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "They stuck together, handled adversity, responded to adversity, and blocked out the noise. Very good intentional focus today as a football team, we just continued to play the next play, focused on playing one play at a time, six seconds a play and played with relentless effort, and just believing in each other and believing in what we're doing, and staying together.
"We played complementary football more often tonight and we executed more often tonight and so we got the results that we wanted. I'm just really proud of our guys and everyone in our organization for sticking together and pushing through adversity to be able to get the job done."
Wisconsin scored on its first series of the game, driving 63 yards on 11 plays while taking 5:27 off the clock, capped by a 1-yard run on fourth down by Braelon Allen.
The Spartans drove the ball down to the Wisconsin 10-yard line on their second series to set up first-and-goal, but Collins was stopped short of the end zone on fourth down from the 1-yard line.
MSU got the ball right back in great field position as Windmon intercepted his first career pass at the Wisconsin 12-yard line, setting up Berger's 12-yard TD run that tied the game at 7 with just 20 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Wisconsin regained the lead on another 1-yard touchdown run at the 10:21 mark in the second quarter.
Trailing 14-7 at the half, Michigan State tied it at 14 with less than a minute left in the third quarter following an eight-play, 97-yard touchdown drive that was finished off by a 1-yard run by Collins. Maliq Carr's 72-yard reception – MSU's longest pass of the year – set up the touchdown for Collins.
The Spartans took their first lead of the game midway through the fourth quarter when Thorne capped a six play, 65-yard drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Coleman with just over seven minutes left in the game.
The Badgers came right back and tied the game at 21-all on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Graham Mertz with under two minutes left. MSU took the ball over with 1:55 left and drove to the Wisconsin 29-yard line, but were not able to take the lead on a field goal attempt as the clock expired, sending it to overtime.
Wisconsin won the coin flip in overtime and chose to defend first and the Spartans struck quickly, with Reed throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Coleman on the first play, giving MSU a 28-21 lead. Facing a third-and-10 on its first possession, Wisconsin's Mertz completed a 25-yard pass to Chimere Dike to tie the game.
In the second overtime, Windmon forced a fumble on Wisconsin's first play, giving MSU the ball back on the 25-yard line. After two plays and facing a third-and-12, Thorne connected with Reed on a 27-yard pass in the corner of the north end zone, giving MSU the thrilling 34-28 win.
Michigan State returns to action Saturday, Oct. 29 to face Michigan in Ann Arbor. The game time will be announced at a later date.
Team Stats

WIS 7, MSU 0
WIS - Allen,Braelon 1 yd run (Van Zelst,Nate kick), 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 05:27

WIS 7, MSU 7
MSU - Berger,Jalen 12 yd run (Patton,Ben kick), 2 plays, 12 yards, TOP 00:12

WIS 14, MSU 7
WIS - Allen,Braelon 1 yd run (Van Zelst,Nate kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:59

WIS 14, MSU 14
MSU - Collins,Elijah 1 yd run (Patton,Ben kick), 8 plays, 97 yards, TOP 04:00

WIS 14, MSU 21
MSU - Coleman,Keon 27 yd pass from Thorne,Payton (Patton,Ben kick) 5 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:31

WIS 21, MSU 21
WIS - Lewis,Keontez 3 yd pass from Mertz,Graham (Van Zelst,Nate kick) 9 plays, 52 yards, TOP 05:11

WIS 21, MSU 28
MSU - Coleman,Keon 25 yd pass from Reed,Jayden (Patton,Ben kick) 1 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00

WIS 28, MSU 28
WIS - Dike,Chimere 25 yd pass from Mertz,Graham (Van Zelst,Nate kick) 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00

WIS 28, MSU 34
MSU - Reed,Jayden 27 yd pass from Thorne,Payton () 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00