The Bulldogs scored the first points of the game when Blair Walsh connected on a 32 yd field goal early in the first quarter. Michigan State would answer with a 20 yard field goal by Brett Swenson with 4:50 left in the first quarter. The Spartans would take the lead late in the second quarter with a 32 yd field goal of their own. Despite multiple turnovers neither Michigan State or Georgia could score a touchdown in the first half and Michigan State would take a 6–3 lead into halftime.
Second half[]
Both teams continued to struggle offensively until Georgia drove 96 yards and scored on a Matthew Stafford 35 yard touchdown pass to Michael Moore with 3:31 left in the third quarter. After forcing Michigan State to punt on their next possession, Georgia would score another touchdown off a 21 yard Matthew Stafford pass, this time to Aron White right before the end of the third quarter. Michigan State would pull within a touchdown after Javon Ringer finally found the end zone for the Spartans with 8:50 left in the fourth quarter. Michigan State attempted a two-point conversion to try to pull within three points of Georgia, however the attempt failed with an incomplete pass. This made the score 17–12.
After a short possession by Georgia, Michigan State would get the ball back and would drive into Georgia territory, but turned the ball over on a failed Fourth down conversion attempt. Georgia would seal the game when Knowshon Moreno scored on a 21 yard touchdown pass from Stafford with just 3:43 left in the fourth quarter.