by By Charlie Perry @CharlieHPerry
Baylor Bears (11-1, 7-1) Quarterback Bryce Petty of the Chickasaw Nation, will lead the NCAA’s top offense against one of the nation’s top shut down defenses in the Michigan State Spartans (10-2, 7-1). The two teams will meet in Arlington Texas at the 79th Annual Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic New Year’s day at AT&T stadium. The contest is scheduled for 12:30 P.M (ET). Michigan State and Baylor have battled on the gridiron once before in 1969 with the Spartans coming out on top 28-10 in East Lansing.
Much has changed however since the two teams’ last contest. Baylor leads the nation in offense with 581.3 ypg and 48.8 ppg with the majority of their offensive output coming through the air. Petty has been a large factor in Baylor’s success, especially against ranked opponents where he averages 449 ypg with 3.5 touchdowns, and a 62% completion rate (3-0). Michigan State will enter the game prepared as they tout the #7 ranked defense in college football. The Spartans are allowing just 293.5 ypg including 97.5 ypg on the ground.
Baylor senior Running Back Shock Linwood hopes to cut some holes in the Spartans defensive front and improve on his 102.2 ypg average. Baylor is currently ranked 2nd in the Big 12 averaging 235.2 ypg on the ground. Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi has been running the Spartans defense against three fast paced offensive huddles in practice recently to prepare his team for the Bears fast paced tempo. “Obviously (Baylor) is going to come at us with a very fast tempo, probably the fastest in the country right now, and they have the No. 1 offense” said outside linebacker Darien Harris to MSUSpartans.com. “They can hit on all cylinders, whether it’s with the run game or the passing game, so we’ve got to be able to defend all facets of the game.”
Michigan State will look to junior quarterback Connor Cook to manage the game clock efficiently to keep Baylor’s offense off the field. The Spartans are also expected to utilize their workhorse of a running back senior Jeremy Langford. Langford ranks 2nd in the Big Ten with 1360 rushing yards on 249 carriers and 19 touchdowns. Langford is currently on a nine game 100 yard rushing streak and believes it’s very important to extend that streak to ten games against Baylor. “It’s important, because it’s something we have to do on offense, run the ball and control the line of scrimmage,” Langford said to MLive.com. “So if we can do that, we’ve got a good chance to win the game, and that’s what we like doing most at Michigan State.”
The Bears lockdown rush defense is ranked 1st in the Big 12 allowing just 107.7 ypg and 2.9 yards per rush. Baylor currently sits as a 3 point favorite over Michigan State. Petty is excited for this matchup, he recently told the Detroit Press, “”The Cotton Bowl is a great bowl and Michigan State is a great team.
(*portions of this article were obtained from BaylorBears.com, MSUspartans.com and MLive.com)
