Michigan State University
7-6
Wake Forest
8-5
Michigan State Defeats Wake Forest in New Era Pinstripe Bowl, 27-21
12/27/2019 7:28:00 PM | Football
NEW YORK – Senior quarterback Brian Lewerke compiled 366 yards of total offense and was named the David C. Koch MVP as Michigan State beat Wake Forest, 27-21, in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
The victory propelled the Spartans (7-6) to their 11th winning season in 13 years under head coach Mark Dantonio, who extended his school record with his sixth bowl victory, which also ranks tied for fourth in Big Ten history. Dantonio, who is already the winningest coach in school history with 114 victories, also tied Duffy Daugherty for the most winning seasons as a Spartan head coach.
"Great football game," said Dantonio. "I thought we played very well the second half. Came away with a shutout in the second half from the defense…I thought our guys were relentless.
"Just can't say enough about our football team and our seniors, that they stayed together. When you win a football game at the end of the year, when you win a bowl game which so much goes into it from a preparation standpoint, it's a good feeling, a very positive feeling."
Lewerke was 26-of-37 passing for 320 yards and one touchdown in his final game wearing the Green and White and set MSU single-season (3,442 yards) and career (9,548 yards) total offense records during the contest. He completed passes to eight different receivers, including his favorite target of the day, junior Cody White, who had a game-high eight receptions for 97 yards. Sophomore Jalen Nailor had five catches for 60 yards, while redshirt freshman tight end Trenton Gillison had a career-high four receptions for 88 yards.
Redshirt freshman Elijah Collins led the Spartans on the ground with 96 yards on 21 carries, and Lewerke added 46 rushing yards. Overall, the Spartans racked up 497 yards of total offense.
Trailing 21-20 at halftime, Michigan State shut out Wake Forest (8-5) in the second half and held the Demon Deacons to 351 yards of total offense. Wake entered the game ranked 12th in the FBS in total offense, averaging 473.4 yards per game.
"Really, I think we got stronger as the game went," said Dantonio. "When you look at it, they scored in their first series. Then they actually scored 21 points in the first half. As the game progressed, we got more confident, we got more I would say stronger, more confident. I think that was the difference. Our attitude and our confidence level just continued to just raise as we went."
Defensively, senior All-American defensive end Kenny Willekes closed out his illustrious career with nine tackles, including 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Willekes, who was already the school's record holder in tackles for loss entering the game, finishes his time in East Lansing with 51 TFLs and 26 sacks, which is third most in MSU history.
Sophomore linebacker Noah Harvey compiled a career-high 14 tackles, while Antjuan Simmons had nine stops and Tyriq Thompson had eight. Starting in his 42nd consecutive game, a Dantonio-era record for a position player, senior defensive tackle Raequan Williams had seven tackles.
After a back-and-forth first half, Michigan State scored the game's only points in the second half to clinch the victory. Trailing 21-20, the Spartans opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, finished off on a 10-yard pass from Lewerke to White to take a 27-21 lead, which proved to be the game-winning score.
The Spartans had a key fourth-down stop to open the fourth quarter and proceeded to drive down the field after getting the ball back, but Gillison fumbled at the Wake 6-yard line, giving possession back to the Demon Deacons at the 11:40 mark.
MSU again forced a Wake Forest punt after the turnover, and drove 80 yards on 11 plays in 4:44 to the WFU 10-yard line, but Matt Coghlin missed a 28-yard field goal with 3:03 left, giving the Demon Deacons one last chance to score. The Spartan defense came up big once again, however, forcing a turnover on downs after four plays, and ran out the clock to seal the victory.
Wake Forest, which entered the game ranked second in the ACC in scoring offense at nearly 33 points a game, scored a touchdown on the game's opening drive, as Jamie Newman found Kendall Hinton in the end zone on a 29-yard TD pass. Newman finished the game 12-of-27 passing for 175 yards but did throw for three TDs and rush for 87 yards.
MSU got on the board at the 2:44 mark in the first quarter on Coghlin's 23-yard field goal.
Following Coghlin's field goal, the Spartans took a 10-7 lead with 2:01 left in the first as Mike Panasiuk scored his first career touchdown on an interception return off a deflected pass; after Jacub Panasiuk tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage, the ball bounced off Harvey, and then Panasiuk picked off the pass and returned it 14 yards for the score.
Wake regained the lead at the 9:14 mark in the second quarter on a 6-play, 36-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 16-yard pass from Newman to Donavon Greene. The TD drive was set up by Hinton's 36-yard punt return.
The Spartans bounced right back on the ensuing drive, scoring quickly in just three plays to take a 17-14 lead midway through the second quarter. On the second play of the drive, Lewerke found Gillison down the middle of the field for a 64-yard completion, and Lewerke ran for an 8-yard touchdown on the next play.
The back-and-forth affair continued on the next drive as Newman connected with tight end Jack Freudenthal on a 44-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-17 in favor of Wake with 6:02 left in the first half.
The Spartans trimmed the deficit to 21-20 with 49 seconds remaining in the first half as Coghlin hit a 44-yard field goal.
Michigan State opens the 2020 season on Sept. 5 against Northwestern in Spartan Stadium.
Team Stats
MSU 0, WF 7
WF - Hinton, K 29 yd pass from Newman, J (Sciba, N kick) 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:16
MSU 3, WF 7
MSU - Coghlin, Matt 23 yd field goal 16 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:21
MSU 10, WF 7
MSU - Panasiuk, Mike 14 yd interception (Coghlin, Matt kick)
MSU 10, WF 14
WF - Greene, D 16 yd pass from Newman, J (Sciba, N kick) 6 plays, 36 yards, TOP 2:08
MSU 17, WF 14
MSU - Lewerke, Brian 8 yd run (Coghlin, Matt kick), 3 plays, 70 yards, TOP 0:51
MSU 17, WF 21
WF - Freudenthal, J 44 yd pass from Newman, J (Sciba, N kick) 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:47
MSU 20, WF 21
MSU - Coghlin, Matt 44 yd field goal 13 plays, 47 yards, TOP 5:22
MSU 27, WF 21
MSU - White, Cody 10 yd pass from Lewerke, Brian (Coghlin, Matt kick) 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 4:42
