EAST LANSING - Rivalry games always have a way of coming down to one play.

Two years ago, it was Jeremy LeSueur committing a facemask penalty that kept the Spartans' winning drive alive.

Saturday, it was Michigan State defensive tackle Matthias Askew who ripped off Michigan center Dave Pearson's helmet on a 2nd-and-8 sweep to the right with 2:39 remaining in the game. Had the penalty not happened, Michigan would have been facing third-and-long and could have given the ball back to the Spartans with two minutes left.

Instead, Michigan took an extra minute off the clock with a new set of downs and left Michigan State with 80 yards to drive if it was going to tie the game at 27.

The Spartans managed to get just 29 yards from their own 20-yard line and then failed on a 51-yard "Hail Mary" attempt from Jeff Smoker to wide receiver Aaron Alexander.

"Two or three things went through my mind," said Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson of the final play. "Colorado went through my mind twice. I was just hoping we could end up with the ball. Did we knock it down or intercept it?"

Jackson was obviously too caught up in his flashbacks of the Kordell Stewart-to-Michael Westbrook Hail Mary that beat Michigan in 1994 to realize that 245-pound linebacker Scott McClintock had jumped over the 6-foot-5 Alexander to intercept the pass and preserve the Wolverines' 27-20 win.

Even having a chance to tie the game had to have been a surprise for Michigan State, which was dominated statistically by Michigan throughout.

The Wolverines controlled the clock (39:19 to 19:47), converted more first downs (29 to 13), had nearly seven times the rushing yards (216 to 36) and had a much better third-down completion rate (13-of-18 to 3-of-13).

After a scoreless first quarter, the Wolverines got on the board first, using two completions to Jason Avant for 29 yards and six of Chris Perry's 51 carries for 24 yards to drive the field. Perry punched the ball in from a yard out to give Michigan a 7-0 lead.

The Spartans answered with a 20-yard field goal by Dave Rayner on the next drive.

Late in the second quarter, Michigan quarterback John Navarre hit Braylon Edwards - who had Michigan State cornerback Roderick Maples beat by two steps - on a 40-yard streak down the middle.

The Spartans stalled out in the final drive of the half, and Rayner missed a 57-yard field goal wide left.

Michigan - taking advantage of the Spartans' inability to move the ball - used its second drive of the third quarter and scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Navarre to tight end Andy Mignery. The Wolverines - which had been running Perry ragged all day en route to his 219 yards - play-actioned left, bringing up the Michigan State safeties and linebackers. Navarre bootlegged right to find the uncovered Mignery for the touchdown.

With a 20-3 lead, all seemed to be going well for the Wolverines. On the very next offensive play, though, the Wolverines mixed up their coverage in the secondary, allowing Michigan State wide receiver Agim Shabaj to get free for a 73-yard touchdown on a post pattern.

Jim Hermann told The Detroit News that he was to blame for the mix-up in the secondary. He said the play got sent in too late, causing safeties Willis Barringer and Ernest Shazor to come up instead of stay back in zone coverage, leading to Shabaj getting open over the secondary.

"I think we had an outstanding game plan," said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr of the defense holding Michigan State to just 290 yards. "It all worked, with the exception of one blown assignment, when we were supposed to have two deep safeties and we only had one. It didn't take Jeff (Smoker) long to recognize that."

Michigan would not be outdone, however, as it used Perry for seven carries and 23 yards on its 65-yard touchdown drive. Navarre split two Michigan State defenders and hit Edwards on a 16-yard post into the endzone, giving Michigan a 27-10 lead 13:31 to play.

Michigan State added a Rayner field goal three minutes later, but the Spartans' biggest play in the game came on their own 22 yard line.

Navarre ran a naked bootleg on first down when the Spartans' Robert Flagg blitzed untouched. Without being hit, Navarre began to bobble the ball. When Flagg did sack him, he knocked the ball from Navarre's grasp. Michigan State defensive end Clifford Dukes picked the ball up and ran it for the score to pull the Spartans within seven.

"If we just hand the football off and pooch it down there, they have to score twice," Carr said. "That decision to throw the football there was a bad one. It was my decision. Had we lost this football game, I can't imagine being any sicker than making a call like that and having it cost a group of kids who played their hearts out in the game."