INDIANAPOLIS -- As far as football controversies go, clap-gate wasn't in the headlines for long, but it turns out former Nebraska coach Bo Pelini's accusations the Michigan State Spartans were intentionally attempting to disrupt their snap counts in the teams' October contest had merit.

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio brushed off the accusations days after his team's 27-22 victory over the Cornhuskers. Reflecting on the game while speaking to reporters at the NFL scouting combine on Friday, former Spartan middle linebacker Taiwan Jones echoed his coach's reasoning for the team's use of clapping on defense.

"A lot of people say the clap might have thrown off the snap count, which it might have, but sometimes that's how we change our fronts and are able to do different things on our defense," Jones said. "That game, it so happened to work in our favor in the latter portions of the game."

So were the Spartans changing their fronts or attempting to disrupt Nebraska's snap count?

"Changing the fronts, but after a while, we caught on to it," Jones said. "We tried to do both at the same time, just to give us a better advantage."

Jones took credit for the idea of using the claps to gain an edge, but admitted he had some help from the sidelines.

"We saw it on film, but it's different when you see it in the game as well," Jones said. "Then you have a guy on the sideline, who is watching what the quarterback does, watching the snap count and things like that, helping you out as well. That's also beneficial."

Jones said none of the Nebraska players complained about the clapping during the game and didn't feel it had any impact on the final score.

The Spartans jumped out to a 27-3 advantage under the lights at Spartan Stadium, but surrendered 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, needing a Trae Waynes interception in the closing minutes to end the Cornhuskers' rally.

Asked if he can use the situation to market himself as a smart player to potential NFL employers at the combine, Jones smiled.

"It shows that I watch film," he said.

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