By Steve Mraz
FANSonly.com

MIAMI -- Michigan State relied on its defense to make up for the sloppy play of its offense in the MicronPC Bowl.

The Spartans' defense recorded six sacks and forced Michigan to punt nine times in a 17-9 win over the Wolverines.

No. 9 seed Michigan State advances to play No. 1 Florida State at the Rose Bowl in the second round of the VCS. The Noles knocked off Stanford yesterday.

Quarterback Bill Burke threw two interceptions and Michigan State backs lost two of their three fumbles to give Michigan plenty of opportunities. But it was the Spartans defense that slammed the Wolverines' window of opportunity shut.

After a scoreless first quarter, Michigan State struck first in the second quarter when L.J. Flowers capped a drive and plowed through the line for a 1-yard touchdown.

It wasn't until late in the second quarter when Michigan finally got on the board with a 24-yard field goal from Jeff Del Verne.

The Wolverines took the lead at the midway point in the third quarter when Tom Brady connected with Marcus Knight for a 73-yard bomb. After a shanked extra point, Michigan was up 9-7.

But the lead wasn't held for long. On the next possession, Burke engineered a Michigan State drive that ended with a 46-yard field goal from Paul Edinger.

The Spartans added some insurance later on in the third after Lloyd Clemons scampered 22 yards for touchdown to bring the score to 17-9.

The game ended the same way it started -- with a scoreless quarter -- but that's not to say it was without action.

Michigan State's Plaxico Burress hauled in five catches for 94 yards, and Michigan's Anthony Thomas had 108 yards on 22 carries, despite not finding the end zone.

The Wolverines only finished with 85 rushing yards on the day because Brady lost 46 yards on sacks.