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1B Sports Michigan St beats Stanford in Rose Bowl PASADENA (AP) — Connor Cook passed for a career-high 332 yards and hit Tony Lippett with a tiebreaking 25-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, leading No. 4 Michigan State to a 24-20 victory over No. 5 Stanford on Wednesday night in the 100th Rose Bowl. Cook also threw a TD pass to Trevon Pendleton, and Jeremy Langford rushed for 84 yards and a score in the first Rose Bowl victory in 26 years for the Big Ten champion Spartans (13-1), who finished the season with 10 straight wins. Michigan State's defense capped its dominant season with one more old-school, smashmouth performance during the centennial celebration of the Granddaddy of Them All. ''It's a special time for all Spartans, and we came here in force,'' coach Mark Dantonio said. ''I'm very happy for our football team, the resilience we showed all season long.'' The nation's best defense ended it by stopping the Pac-12 champion Cardinal (11-3) on fourthand-1 with 1:46 to play, utterly stuffing a run play up the middle. Kyler Elsworth, who started in place of suspended senior leader Max Bullough, hurdled the pile to deliver an electrifying, head-on hit to fullback Ryan Hewitt. ''When I saw their offensive linemen's stance, I knew the way to make a play was to go over the top,'' said Elsworth, selected the game's defensive MVP. Tyler Gaffney ran for 91 yards and an early TD for Stanford, and linebacker Kevin Anderson returned an interception 40 yards for a score late in the first half. But the Cardinal couldn't follow up last season's victory in Pasadena with back-toback Rose Bowl wins, AP photo Stanford wide receiver Michael Rector, right, is flipped upside down by Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes during the first half of the Rose Bowl Wednesday in Pasadena. managing just three points from their offense after the first quarter. The Spartans have long labored in the shadow of Michigan and Ohio State, but coach Dantonio's seven-year rebuilding project in East Lansing has put them on top of the Midwest this season with an unbeaten run through conference play. After knocking off the unbeaten Buckeyes in the league title game, Michigan State earned only the Big Ten's second Rose Bowl win since 2000, even rallying from its first double-digit deficit of the entire season to do it. Cook led the way in his own inimitable fashion, making incredible plays and huge mistakes along the way. Along with his costly interception to Anderson, he also threw two passes that went through the hands of Cardinal defenders, and an interception in the third quarter was wiped out by a defensive holding call. But when the Spartans needed big plays in the second half, Cook repeatedly delivered, finishing 22 for 36. Kevin Hogan beat Wisconsin in last year's Rose Bowl, but he couldn't match Cook, going 10 for 18 for 143 yards and a key interception for Stanford. A mere 112 years after the game considered the first Rose Bowl was played in a park elsewhere in Pasadena, Stanford and Michigan State engaged in an old-fashioned slugfest in the venerable stadium that will host the BCS title game Monday night. Michigan State fans dominated the Rose Bowl grounds and stands, with about 70 percent wearing green in the crowd of 95,173 — the game's largest turnout since 1998. Thursday January 2, 2014 Maple Leafs beat Red Wings in snowy Winter Classic ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A lot of winter. Very little classic hockey. Light snow swirled down in the Big House, making it tough to push the puck through piles of the white stuff on a sheet of ice where football is usually played. Teeth-chattering temperatures and a brisk wind were factors, too, that made the NHL's Winter Classic much more of an event than a game. Tyler Bozak scored the winning shootout goal and Jonathan Bernier made two saves in the heart-pounding final moments, lifting Toronto to a 3-2 victory over Detroit on Wednesday in front of 105,591 fans — the largest crowd to watch a hockey game. ''I was just lucky to get a stick on it and keep it low enough,'' Bozak acknowledged. The Red Wings were not as fortunate in the closely contested spectacle that was altered in a lot of ways because of the conditions. Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg appeared to have good chance in overtime with the puck in the Maple Leafs' end and defenseman Cody Franson on his left side. The horn, however, sounded to stop play at the 2:30 mark of the extra period so that both teams played into a 10-plus mph wind for an equal amount of time. ''I think I would have had a clear breakaway,'' Zetterberg said. The game also was halted midway through the third period so that the teams could switch sides. In the shootout, skaters for both teams attempted shots with the wind in their face toward the same net — or end zone. After a slew of skaters with shovels cleared the ice following overtime, Pavel Datsyuk scored Detroit's only goal in the shootout and teammate Tomas Tatar was foiled on his team's third and final attempt because he couldn't control the puck on the snow-covered surface and didn't even get a shot off. ''The conditions made it so some of the skill in the game was eliminated,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. Bernier, with a knit hat over his helmet, made 41 saves — the most in an outdoor regular- season game. The crowd surpassed the 104,173 who saw Michigan and Michigan State skate in the same football stadium known as the Big House in 2010. The game-time temperature was 13 degrees with a wind chill of zero and steady snow that didn't stop on a windy afternoon. At the previous five Winter Classics, the average temperature was 39 degrees and the average attendance was 53,045. This one was bigger, colder and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman loved every minute of it. ''This has been a terrific day, terrific way to start the new year and a terrific way to embark upon the part of the season that's going to see five more outdoor games at the Olympic break,'' Bettman said. ''We couldn't be any more pleased with the way things went.'' The struggling yet storied franchises did their best to put on show in the snow. ''I don't know if you would call it a gem from a pace standpoint,'' Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. ''There was a lot of snow and a lot of things to deal with.'' Joffrey Lupul, who might face discipline from the NHL for a cross-check that knocked Patrick Eaves out of the game in the first period, scored the first of two goals for the Maple Leafs in the shootout. College Football FBS Bowl Glance By The Associated Press Saturday, Dec. 21 New Mexico Bowl At Albuquerque Colorado State 48, Washington State 45 Las Vegas Bowl Southern Cal 45, Fresno State 20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl At Boise, Idaho San Diego State 49, Buffalo 24 New Orleans Bowl Louisiana-Lafayette 24, Tulane 21 Bowl At Pasadena, Calif. Michigan State 24, Stanford 20 Fiesta Bowl At Glendale, Ariz. Baylor (11-1) vs. UCF (11-1), late Thursday, Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl At New Orleans Alabama (11-1) vs. Oklahoma (10-2), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) Monday, Dec. 23 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl At St. Petersburg, Fla. East Carolina 37, Ohio 20 Tuesday, Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl At Honolulu Oregon State 38, Boise State 23 Thursday, Dec. 26 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl At Detroit Pittsburgh 30, Bowling Green 27 Poinsettia Bowl At San Diego Utah State 21, Northern Illinois 14 Friday, Dec. 27 Military Bowl At Annapolis, Md. Marshall 31, Maryland 20 Texas Bowl At Houston AP photo Iowa wide receiver Jordan Cotton (23) dives for the end zone after getting tripped up by LSU cornerback Jalen Collins (32) on a kickoff return during the fourth quarter of the Outback Bowl Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. Syracuse 21, Minnesota 17 Fight Hunger Bowl At San Francisco Washington 31, BYU 16 Louisville 36, Miami 9 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl At Tempe, Ariz. Kansas State 31, Michigan 14 Saturday, Dec. 28 Pinstripe Bowl At New York Notre Dame 29, Rutgers 16 Belk Bowl At Charlotte, N.C. North Carolina 39, Cincinnati 17 Russell Athletic Bowl At Orlando, Fla. Monday, Dec. 30 Armed Forces Bowl At Fort Worth, Texas Navy 24, Middle Tennessee 6 Music City Bowl At Nashville, Tenn. Mississippi 25, Georgia Tech 17 Alamo Bowl At San Antonio Oregon 30, Texas 7 Holiday Bowl At San Diego Texas Tech 37, Arizona State 23 Tuesday, Dec. 31 AdvoCare V100 Bowl At Shreveport, La. Arizona 42, Boston College 19 Sun Bowl At El Paso, Texas UCLA 42, Virginia Tech 12 Liberty Bowl At Memphis, Tenn. Mississippi State 44, Rice 7 Chick-fil-A Bowl At Atlanta Texas A&M 52, Duke 48 Wednesday, Jan. 1 Heart of Dallas Bowl At Dallas North Texas 36, UNLV 14 Gator Bowl At Jacksonville, Fla. Nebraska 24, Georgia 19 Capital One Bowl At Orlando, Fla. South Carolina 34, Wisconsin 24 Outback Bowl At Tampa, Fla. LSU 21, Iowa 14 Rose Friday, Jan. 3 Orange Bowl At Miami Ohio State (12-1) vs. Clemson (10-2), 8 p.m. (ESPN) Cotton Bowl At Arlington, Texas Missouri (11-2) vs. Oklahoma State (10-2), 7:30 p.m. (FOX) Saturday, Jan. 4 BBVA Compass Bowl At Birmingham, Ala. Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. Houston (8-4), 1 p.m. (ESPN) Sunday, Jan. 5 GoDaddy.com Bowl At Mobile, Ala. Arkansas State (7-5) vs. Ball State (10-2), 9 p.m. (ESPN) Monday, Jan. 6 BCS National Championship At Pasadena, Calif. Florida State (13-0) vs. Auburn (12-1), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)