Junior running back Le’Veon Bell emerged with the heavyweight championship belt, scoring the game-tying touchdown with just more than a minute remaining in regulation, and setting up the MSU football team’s (5-4 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) game-winning touchdown in overtime with three consecutive runs.

Two plays later, juniors Andrew Maxwell and Bennie Fowler connected on a 12-yard touchdown pass to seal a 16-13 upset victory over Wisconsin (6-3, 3-2) while the Badgers’ star senior running back, Montee Ball, stood on the sidelines.

Ball was limited to 46 rushing yards and 2.1 yards per carry, his lowest output of the conference season, production he and head coach Bret Bielema described as “very tough.”

“We knew it would be a tough task, but we were never able to get anything going on the ground, and any time that happens for us offensively, it’s never going to be a good day,” Bielema said.

“Obviously, give credit to Michigan State.”

With his background as a former defensive coordinator, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said the performance of his defense was especially meaningful for him.

“(Defensive coordinator Pat) Narduzzi and this staff, they do a great job … and as a defensive coach, I take great pride in that,” Dantonio said.

“What you have to be able to (do) is be able to tackle in space (and) get off blocks; (and), obviously, we pressured some. I just think we had our motors running again, which we have really all season long.”

Max Bullough said the defense contained Ball even better than they had hoped, and credited it to being a team effort, with the play of junior defensive end Will Gholston and sophomore linebacker Taiwan Jones standing out.

Controlling one of the country’s top running backs is something the junior linebacker said the defense can use to continue growing.

“Our defense, we stayed together,” Bullough said. “We understand what Wisconsin does, (and) they know what we do; it’s about being tough and playing every (play together). … It’s the hardest thing to do, and if we can do that, which we did, we’re going to be as good as we were to start the game.”