College Football AP Top 25: Winners and losers of Week 11

Winner: Michigan State Spartans (No. 24 up to No. 13)

One week after being considered an AP Poll loser, Michigan State rebounded to make some noise in Week 11. The Spartans rebounded nicely from a heartbreaking triple-overtime loss to Northwestern on the road to beat No. 7 Penn State in a wild game at Spartan Stadium.

After a Penn State score to end the third quarter which gave the Nittany Lions a 24-21 lead, the Spartans marched down and tied it up and then later stopped Penn State on fourth down to get the ball back. They ran the time all the way down to set up a game-winning field goal try and Matt Coghlin nailed it.

The Spartans played the Nittany Lions tough despite Trace McSorley passing for over 380 yards against the usually-solid Michigan State secondary. That has to make Mark Dantonio cringe a bit, but there’s always things to work on. If that secondary can improve moving forward, this team will be even scarier.

On the offensive side of the ball, Michigan State seems to be hitting its stride, especially through the air. Sophomore Brian Lewerke is beginning to look like the next great Spartan gunslinger, passing for 400 yards for the second straight game. Oh yeah, and this team controls its own destiny. Winning out would give the Spartans the Big Ten East title.