With their offense unable to get anything going against a dominant Georgia defense, Michigan State's defense stepped up in the third quarter of the Outback Bowl.

Spartans sophomore CB Darqueze Dennard got his first career interception on a miscommunication between Aaron Murray and Tavarres King, as King began blocking on a Murray scramble, gift-wrapping an interception for Dennard.

Michigan State quickly took advantage of their field position, with Le'Veon Bell rushing for a 8-yard TD and Kirk Cousins finding TE Brian Linthicum in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion.

Later in the quarter, Dennard got Murray again, returning a pass 38 yards for a TD. However, Michigan State was unable to convert on their second two-point conversion, ending the third quarter down 16-14 to the Bulldogs.

With both defenses continuing to play extremely stout, Murray's two mistakes have turned a comfortable Georgia victory into a nail-biter likely to go down to the final minutes.