MSU tried a meaningless 2-pointer at the end of a loss. Michigan ran it back for points.

Michigan State beat Michigan last year on one of the most improbable endings in college football history.

In 2016, the Spartans tried to do something even more ridiculous against the unbeaten Wolverines. Tried.

After scoring with one second left to make it 30-23, MSU elected to go for two. That seemed like the most pointless play possible, since a successful try would only cut the margin to five points. Michigan State’s extremely remote chances of victory would still hinge on somehow recovering a kickoff fumble and then running it back, because, as noted, there was only one second left. (You can’t advance an onside kick recovery, so the only option would’ve been to boot the thing and hope something real dumb happened.)

UM coaches would also remind players not to even run the kick back but just to fall on it.

None of that even mattered.

That’s Heisman hopeful Jabrill Peppers picking up the ball and running it back for two points, making the final score 32-23.

That means the two-point attempt decreased MSU’s already unfathomable chances of victory. It didn’t matter much, but it’ll go down as a historic moment in a rivalry that appears to be swinging back toward Ann Arbor with great vengeance.