No sure thing, but MSU thinking about bowl bid

EAST LANSING - Things weren't looking good for Michigan State on Saturday before finishing with 12 minutes of season-saving football.

The Spartans edged Purdue 40-37 and, more importantly, become bowl eligible.

While the Spartans are not technically guaranteed a bowl game at this point, a win against Penn State on Saturday would do exactly that.

So, too, would a Michigan loss to Ohio State. That would end the Wolverines' bowl hopes and ensure MSU a postseason game before their 3:30 matchup with the Nittany Lions.

"It's never a guarantee, obviously," MSU quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "With seven wins, you're guaranteed one. But at 6-6, we have to think we'll be able to play somewhere in December - and it's a great thing to be able to get six wins."

The most likely destinations for the Spartans (6-5 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) are the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio or the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.

However a home loss against Penn State (9-2, 5-2) coupled with a Wolverines upset, would leave three teams - MSU, Minnesota and Michigan - in the mix for the Insight and Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.

"That's what we've been talking about all week is trying to get eligible for a bowl," said receiver Keshawn Martin, whose 85-yard kickoff return set up Brett Swenson's game-winning field goal at Purdue. "Now we're eligible - but we've got one more game, so that'll probably put us in a better bowl if we win."

Though the season began with lofty expectations, the Spartans were forced to readjust their goals following a disappointing start.

Three straight bowl appearances would be a first for the Spartans since they traveled to three in a row from 1995-1997 under coach Nick Saban.

The Spartans achieved four-straight postseason berths under coach George Perles, starting with their 20-17 Rose Bowl win over USC in 1997. Michigan State was 3-1 during that stretch, but failed to win any of the three under Saban.

"We had our goals set high for this year, obviously," junior linebacker Eric Gordon said. "But each week, we have to take it step by step, kind of change our goals around.

"Our goal was get bowl eligible this week, and we did it. It feels great to reach our goal."

SWENSON HONORED: Senior kicker Swenson, who connected on all four of his field-goal attempts at Purdue, was selected as Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. It marks the fourth time in his career that Swenson has earned conference weekly honors.

Also Monday, Swenson was named one of three Stars of the Week by the Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award organization.

He is one of 20 semifinalists for the award. The winner will be announced Dec. 10.