Michigan State beat Pittsburgh 31-21 at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Thursday night, closing an 11-2 season turnaround for Mel Tucker in his second year as head coach.
The Spartans suffered a 21–10 deficit in the third quarter, but defeated Pitt 21–0 in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback victory. It was the largest point difference in the fourth quarter of a bowl game in the last 5 seasons.
After the game, Tucker said he felt like his team had given their all on the field, not only during Thursday night's game, but throughout the season.
"We have really laid the foundation for how we should play football here," he said. "And our culture has really changed, and we're reinforcing it and we're building on it every day. And the game of football we play here at Michigan State is very important. And everyone has to be in that area." And when they see us play and say, 'Those guys work hard. Those guys are tough, they're physical, they won't give up. They don't budge.'"
Michigan State played without Doc Walker Award winner Kenneth Walker III and ran for just 56 yards in the game. However, quarterback Peyton Thorne's mid-game adjustment was made to make up for Walker's absence.
After going 5-14 for 34 yards in the third quarter, Thorne threw 144 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth. After the game, he said that he received encouragement from his coaches throughout the game, as well as from fans traveling to Atlanta.
"It was just playing one play at a time and trying to put together a good drive to get into the fourth quarter," Thorne said. "And our guys made great plays, got great catches all around, and the offensive line played well picking up all the blitz."
Pitt was without Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Kenny Pickett, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft. In place of Piquet, Nick Patti broke his collarbone in the first quarter after diving for a touchdown, and would miss the rest of the game.
But despite Pitt being down in their third-string quarterback, Michigan State still had to climb back into the game. In defiance of Pitt quarterback Davis Beville's best efforts late in the game, the Spartans sealed the game with a 78-yard pick-six by linebacker Cal Halladay.
It was a happy ending to the season for the Spartans, who ended the 2020 campaign with a 2-5 record, their final loss of the season to a 39-24 loss on the road to Penn State.
Michigan State began the season 8–0, which propelled them into the top four of the college football playoff rankings and eventually dropped out after a 56–7 loss to Ohio State.
Due to change this season, Michigan State and Tucker agreed to a 10-year deal worth $95 million to remain with the Spartans in November.
"Our fans deserve a winning football team," Tucker said. "Our fans deserve a championship football team. Our fans deserve to see a brand of football they can be proud of. And that's what we're here to do. It's something for us to make our fans proud of." And it's something that we talk about all the time and we'll continue to do that. We're going to do it as a team, our team on the field and our fans together, and we achieve some great things here. are going to do."