Wake Forest gave Michigan State its best shot, but in the end, the defense stepped up to hold on to the victory at Yankee Stadium, 27-21.
It looked like it was going to be a shootout with a 21-20 score at halftime and Michigan State came out of the locker room right away to score the go-ahead touchdown to make it 27-21, but three empty trips by the Spartans in the red zone late in the second half kept the score that way.
It was the perfect send-off for Brian Lewerke who played a great game as well as Kenny Willekes whose strip-sack (which Wake Forest ultimately recovered) with minutes remaining led to the big win for Michigan State, improving to 7-6 on the year.