Spartans prevail at Pinstripe
Mike Panasiuk ripped off his Michigan State helmet and hoisted it in the air, unleashing the hidden part of his scruffy beard that’s normally a no-no at Yankee Stadium. Facial hair is banned for all Yankees, and so, for the Spartans, are the kind of acts of unsportsmanlike conduct that get a big guy like Panasiuk penalized.
The penalty was worth it for the burly Spartans defensive tackle, who rumbled 14 yards on an interception for his first career touchdown. His brother, Jacub,sparked the pick when he swatted the ball at the line. It took a bounce off a fallen player, and into Panasiuk’s hands.
“Shoutout to Mike,” Michigan State’s Kenny Willekes said. “That’s pretty damn cool to score a touchdown at Yankee Stadium.”
Brian Lewerke took it from there in his final game. Lewerke threw for 320 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in Michigan State’s 27-21 victory against Wake Forest Friday night in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York.
“When you’re a senior and you play your last football game, you want it to be your best,” coach Mark Dantonio said.
Lewerke threw a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Cody White in the third quarter to put the Spartans (7-6) ahead, 27-21, and they survived down the stretch to give Dantonio his sixth bowl victory.
“As the game progressed we got more confident, we got stronger,” Dantonio said. “I think that was the difference, our attitude.”
Attitude, sure. But a defense that gave up 250 yards of offense and 21 points to the up-tempo Demon Deacons in the first half pitched a shutout in the second and surrendered just 101 yards.
“Once we got used to it, I feel like we had the game in our hands,” Panasiuk said.
Panasiuk had the ball in his hands for an early contender for wildest play of the bowl season. Wake Forest’s Jamie Newman failed to get enough lift on an early pass attempt that turned into a bit of a 4-6-3 touchdown on the Yankee Stadium field. Panasiuk’s measurements look a little like this: height, 6-foot-4; weight, 300 pounds; unkempt beard length, oh, let’s say 4 to 6 inches.
“Great play by him, a very alert play by him,” Dantonio said.
Michigan State got the go-ahead score and not much else, allowing Wake Forest (85) chances to win nine games for just the third time in program history.
“We felt great about our chances to win it,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said.
More games
Military: Freshman Sam Howell threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns and caught a scoring pass in North Carolina’s 55-13 victory against Temple at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Howell completed 25 of 34 passes and ran for 53 yards on three carries to help the Tar Heels (7-6) to their first bowl victory since 2013. Temple (8-5) has gone to a bowl five years in a row — and lost four of them. Howell threw two first-half touchdown to stake the Tar Heels to a 20-6 lead. They pulled away in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns in a 12-second span, the last on Storm Duck’s 20-yard interception return. Howell completed the third-quarter blitz by catching a 2-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Rontavius Groves at the end of a razzle-dazzle reverse to make it 41-6. Howell threw 38 touchdown passes this season, the most by a true freshman in FBS history.
Texas: Kellen Mond ran for a career-high 117 yards and threw a touchdown pass as Texas A&M scored 24 consecutive points to overcome an early deficit and beat
Oklahoma State, 24-21, at NRG Stadium in Houston. Mond ran 67 yards to give the Aggies (8-5) a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. Mond cut to the right to avoid a couple of defenders and outran everyone else. Tre Sterling had a shot to tackle him around the 25, but Mond ran away from his diving attempt. The Cowboys (8-5) went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Texas A&M 34 on their next possession, but Spencer Sanders was stopped for no gain. The Aggies added a 24-yard field goal to make it 24-14 with about three minutes to go. Oklahoma State cut the lead to three on a touchdown reception by Braydon Johnson with about a minute left. The Cowboys attempted an onside kick, but Texas A&M recovered it to secure the victory. Chuba Hubbard, who finished the regular season as Football Bowl Subdivision’s leading rusher, ran for 158 yards, and Johnson had 124 yards receiving and two touchdowns for the Cowboys. Hubbard finished the season with 2,094 yards rushing to become the second player in school history to reach 2,000, joining Barry Sanders, who did it in 1988 when he won the Heisman Trophy. Sanders tweeted congratulations to Hubbard after he reached the mark and said: “I know the effort it takes to get there.” Mond, who threw for 95 yards, fumbled twice early and the Aggies trailed, 14-0, after the first quarter and were down by seven at halftime. He had just 35 yards passing in the first half, but got going on Texas A&M’s first possession of the second half. He had a 28-yard completion on a drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jhamon Ausbon.