With the 2019 college footballs season complete, we look back on how the Big Ten did in bowl games.
As we go through all the bowls, in no particular order, we will focus on two main things:
1. How did the bowl performance end the 2019 season? Was it a fitting end or a poor performance, etc.
2. What impact, if any, will it have on the 2020 season.
Now that we’ve gone through all four Big Ten losses (not including the CFP), let’s move on to the wins.
2019 Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State vs Wake Forest
The matchup
This was going to be a fun one coming in. Wake Forest had a powerful offense coming in, and Michigan State entered with an elite defense, as always. It was strength vs strength and weakness vs weakness. Who would prevail? Would Michigan State get much-needed stops? Would the Spartan offense finally do, well, anything? Could the Spartans atone for an utterly embarrassing quality of play in last year’s bowl game? We would very quickly find out that the offense absolutely could work.
What went right
The offense was explosive, and Michigan State won the game. Ultimately, those are the two most important things from this game. The defense held Wake Forest relatively in check, though it did give up some explosive plays, which a Mark Dantonio defense really doesn’t like doing. All in all, the stats and play-by-play of this game show a very positive showing for Michigan State. 320 passing yards is an especially important stat, and just makes fans wonder where that was hiding all season.
What went wrong
Mistakes almost cost the team this game. Michigan State’s final four possessions (not counting the final one, which was one first down then knees) were a three-and-out, a lost fumble, another lost fumble, then a missed chip shot field goal. This game should have been a blowout in Michigan State’s favor. Instead, the game was just a much-needed bowl win with a much-needed good offensive showing. But by all rights, this should not have been close in the fourth quarter. Instead, Wake Forest had the ball with a chance to win in the final three minutes of the game.
Next… 2019 wrap-up and 2020 impact
2019 wrap-up
The Spartans needed this badly. 2016 was a huge bust and last year was disappointing, to say the least. A good 2017 was sandwiched in there, but the trajectory of this program was in the wrong direction. The season ended with rumors of Mark Dantonio’s impending retirement. The college football world around Michigan State wasn’t pretty, and was getting uglier. This good bowl performances put an important cap on a decent season. Most importantly, perhaps, the offensive explosion in the bowl game (especially passing the ball) signals that a Dantonio offense can still be effective. More than anything else, Michigan State needed to make that statement, and that’s exactly what the Spartans did.
2020 Impact
It’s hard to manage expectations for the Michigan State program nowadays? Should we be expecting anywhere close to the run in the middle of the 2010s, with consistent Top 10 seasons and a CFP trip? Is 6-6 really too low of an expectation when stuck in a division with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State? The Spartans will face both Iowa and Minnesota in cross-divisional play; it’s hard to expect a team to win both of those games.
So where, exactly, does that leave Michigan State? This team won’t be getting preseason hype like it has for most of the past decade. And maybe 7-5 or 8-4 is the best that is fair to hope for at this point. Keeping that in mind, it’s hard to say what impact, if any, this bowl win had on the Spartans. At least now the program stopped its nosedive, but the road back up is a very steep uphill.
