Ranking Mark Dantonio’s 100 wins: 2015 MSU beats Oregon for win No. 10

Friends...welcome to the top ten.

Not only does it mean we are close to No. 1, but we are also close to the season and that is just fantastic.

Being just 17 days away from the season has use yearning for electric home games, like what we have right here at No. 10 of our countdown.

If you missed any of the previous 90 games in our countdown, take a stroll down link lane over here.

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Win No. 10

Sept. 12, 2015: No. 5 MSU 31, No. 7 Oregon 28

I’ll say it because I’m that confident in it — Spartan Stadium was the most electric place to be on Sept. 12, 2015.

The Spartans were hosting their first matchup between two top ten teams since 1966 when, you guessed it, the “Game of the Century” between Notre Dame and MSU went down.

Plenty of players have said this is the loudest they’ve heard Spartan Stadium, and a few fans whose ears are still ringing to this day would also agree.

Can’t wait for this rematch in seemingly 50 years.

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

How They Won

This game nearly had it ALL. And yes, including a start that had fans thinking “great, not again” after Oregon marched down the field in vintage fashion for a quick 7-0 lead.

As we all know, it got better from there.

After a huge Madre London 62-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, Connor Cook connected with Josiah Price to quickly tie it up.

The end of the first quarter saw Montae Nicholson intercept the first of two picks thrown by highly touted transfer Vernon Adams. All the Spartans did was turn that into a touchdown with a 17-yard Cook-to-Aaron Burbridge connection, making it 14-7.

Unfortunately Oregon scored on the next dr—OH THAT’S RIGHT. NO THEY DIDN’T! Instead the MSU defense clamped down in front of its own student section and held Oregon out of the end zone despite the Ducks looking at 1st-and-goal from the three yard line at one point.

Spartan Stadium damn near crumbled to the ground when that happened.

Second half didn’t start great either as Oregon took back MSU’s punt to the house, knotting it up at 14-14.

But hey, it’s all good. MSU scored on the next drive and also threw in a dicey 4th-and-6 conversion to set up the LJ Scott touchdown to grab the lead.

Michael Geiger then did his thing from 36 yards near the end of the third quarter to grow the lead to 24-14.

Then Oregon responded with a touchdown.

Then MSU did the same thing right after that on a 38-yard run and OH MY GOD SO MUCH SCORING and it was 31-21 with just over 10 minutes left.

Alright, so Oregon scores again to make it a 31-28 game. Things get hairy. There’s an anxious feeling around the stadium now as Oregon is driving and ahh crap HE’S WIDE OPEN ANDWHOOAAAAAAA THANK THE HEAVENS.

Two plays later, Oregon turns it over on downs and everyone in Spartan Stadium can a) exhale and b) party.

What This Win Meant

As far as optics go, it meant MSU was still a big dog in the national landscape. They dropped their two biggest games the season prior — still a tremendous season — but this win showed MSU can still keep pace with the nation’s elite.

Oh, and it also got a HUGE season started on the right foot. The rest of the season had some absolutely bananas games, and a win like this set the momentum for the rest of that season.