Indiana rallies to shock No. 17 Michigan State in OT

Kickers don’t ordinarily get a second chance to be the hero, but Indiana’s Griffin Oakes did thanks to a Michigan State penalty.

Oakes, who had already missed field goals from 40 and 50 yards in regulation, had the chance to seal an upset in overtime with a 33-yard try. It sailed wide left. However, because Michigan State’s Drake Martinez tried to block the kick by illegally launching himself off a teammate’s back, the Spartans were flagged for leaping to give Indiana new life.

Michigan State’s Michael Geiger missed from 49 yards to open overtime, so the Hoosiers needed points of any kind to beat the 17th-ranked Spartans. Martinez’s penalty gave IU a first down, and the Hoosiers worked their way closer to the goal line to give Oakes a chip shot.

This time, from 20 yards, the junior drilled it down the middle to give IU a 24-21 win and allow the Bloomington faithful to celebrate.

Hand over the old brass spittoon! Down 14-0, @HoosierFootball rallies to win in OT. https://t.co/W9oMhuvj59

— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) October 2, 2016

The Hoosiers trailed for much of the game, and didn’t crack the scoreboard until the final minute of the third quarter. It took a trick play, too. With MSU leading 14-0, receiver Mitchell Paige took a handoff on an end around and tossed it back to quarterback Richard Lagow for a five-yard score on third-and-goal.

Creative play leads to @HoosierFootball's TD! More video >> https://t.co/TlKioZb6LO
https://t.co/hAuHkp4VvI

— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) October 2, 2016

After the IU defense forced a punt, the offense came right back out and scored again to tie the score. The tying score came when Lagow went to the air and found Ricky Jones from 22 yards out.

MSU’s ensuing drive was a three-and-out and all of the mometum was on Indiana’s side. When the Hoosiers’ offense took over, Devine Redding (100 yards on 19 carries) broke loose with a 44-yard scamper on the drive’s first play. Four plays later, Lagow and Paige hooked up again, this time with Lagow finding Paige wide open in the front left corner of the end zone to give IU a 21-14 lead with 4:38 to go.

But Michigan State wouldn’t go down without a fight. The Spartans quickly drove down the field and finally tied the score on a two-yard fourth down touchdown pass from Tyler O’Connor to tight end Josiah Price with 11 seconds remaining, forcing overtime.

The Spartans opened the extra frame with the ball, but went nowhere. Indiana twice sacked O’Connor, forcing a 49-yard field goal try from Geiger. He missed, paving the way for Oakes’ game-winner.

Indiana, now 3-1, has been looking to take the next step under Kevin Wilson for a few years now, so last weekend’s loss to Wake Forest was a deflating one. What a way to respond, huh? The win is Indiana’s biggest upset since it knocked off No. 15 Iowa in 2006.

Meanwhile, Michigan State, the reigning Big Ten champions, drops to 2-2 with the loss. That’s back-to-back brutal losses for the Spartans, who were blown out by Wisconsin 30-6 at home last week.

With No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan in the same division, it’s going to be awfully hard for MSU to rebound from this 0-2 start in conference play.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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