Reed and Coleman joked postgame about the special play that involved Reed acting as the quarterback in overtime and what it was like catching a pass from someone who wasn’t redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne.

“It ain’t no different to be honest,” Coleman said. “He threw a good spiral, just go up there and get the ball.”

Reed immediately interrupted Coleman in order to praise his performance as well as give his opinion on the throw.

“That wasn’t a great ball, but he made a play,” Reed said. “We got playmakers. He said just throw it, I was like alright.”

Although the play likely surprised many fans in attendance, it's something the team has been working on in practice, just in case they would need to pull it out in a game scenario like that one.

"The funny thing is we couldn’t really get it to work in practice, so I mean he called it in a game and we had to execute it pretty much," Reed said.

The Spartans would need one more in overtime on a traditional Thorne to Reed pass to seal the deal in double overtime, but overall the passing offense stepped up big time against the Badgers and proved they can handle intense situations where the game is on the line.

More specifically, Reed has proven yet again to be an asset for the Spartans when it comes to plays like these. He fought off his defender with one arm before getting a good enough position to snag the ball and bring it down into the end zone, just a few plays after his appearance at "quarterback" on the last scoring drive. It's clear the veteran has taken on a leadership role both on and off the field, due to his versatile play that sets an example for the younger players such as Coleman.

Although Reed has missed a few games due to a freak injury, the rest of the wide receivers have remained healthy, so why was it this game that they were able to put it all together? According to head coach Mel Tucker, it's simply execution.

"It is that simple because we talked about death by inches week after week after week and that's a lack of execution," Tucker said. "We don't have a lot of margin for error on our football team, so if one guy is not doing his job, we don't have a positive play, whether it's offense, defense, or special teams, so we have more guys executing more often together for 60 minutes and so we got a better result."

While the execution has been shaky this season, it's clear that, offensively, Tucker has the players he needs to get the job done, especially when it comes to the receivers.

“You can see that those guys play some passing and they can be definitely tough matchups for people because they’re big guys that can run and I believe their ball skills are incredible," Tucker said.

This execution led to MSU snapping its four-game losing streak, a tough stretch for any team, but one that the Spartans stuck together through.

“Obviously things have been tough this year, but I mean I think you guys can see that, like we’re a team that actually cared," Reed said. "We fight our hardest to go out there and make plays when we can."

The Spartans will get a week to rest, as they have their scheduled bye next weekend, but will need to use every practice in the meantime to prepare for a tough road matchup with rival No. 5 Michigan in Ann Arbor, who rolled over No. 10 Penn State Saturday afternoon.