Atlanta - Michigan State climbed off the mat for another improbable chapter to a feel-good storybook season. This time, it was the closing chapter, and the tale ended with No. 10 Michigan State scoring a 31-21 victory over No. 12 Pittsburgh in the Chick-fil-A Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Michigan State scored 21 fourth-quarter points in fighting back from a 21-10 deficit, with no run game and a slumping quarterback against a punishing Pittsburgh defense.

But quarterback Payton Thorne kept firing until he got hot. He completed 14 of 19 passes in the fourth quarter for 144 yards. He piloted TD drives of 70 and 69 yards to forge the go-ahead points.

Pittsburgh, the Atlantic Coast Conference champions, had only one first down in the first 28 minutes of the second half. But the Panthers, down to third-string QB Davis Beville, drove to the Spartan 26-yard line with less than a minute to play.

But Spartan linebacker Cal Haladay stepped in front of a short crossing route, intercepted Beville’s pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown to give Michigan State a 31-21 lead just seconds after it looked like Pitt was getting in position to break Michigan State’s hearts.

Instead, Michigan State comes out of it with the sixth 11-win season in school history and almost certainly the 16th Top 10 finish to a season in school history.

“I told our team that this performance was very indicative of how we played all season and our culture,” said Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker. “It’s something to build upon. It means that our guys ,our coaches and our players believe in what we’re doing.”

Thorne rallied back from inaccuracies midway through the game to finish 29 of 50 for a career-high 354 yards with three TD passes.

Jayden Reed was voted Offensive MVP, snaring six receptions for 80 yards and two TDs. Reed was blanketed in coverage while going high to bring down TD grabs of 28 and 22 yards. Thorne delivered pinpoint accuracy on both plays.

Reed’s first TD gave Michigan State a 7-0 lead to close out the Spartans’ opening drive of the game.

The 22-yarder gave Michigan State a 24-21 lead with 2:51 to play on a clutch jumpball at the goal line. That came seconds after another clutch throw from Thorne, a comeback to Jalen Nailor for 14 yards on a crucial third-and-10 conversion.

“Jayden was excellent tonight all night,” Thorne said. “He had two great contested catches in the end zone. He had a pretty amazing game. It was special. It was cool. But I’m hoping I can throw him a few more next year.”

Reed said he hasn’t decided whether he will come back for his senior year or leave for a shot at the NFL.

"I still don't have an answer at this moment," Reed said.

One drive earlier, Thorne somehow put both zip and touch on a pass to Connor Heyward over a linebacker and into the end zone for a 15-yard TD pass to cut Pitt’s lead to 21-16.

“It was really a clutch catch and it was awesome,” Thorne said of Heyward. “Conor has been a guy that has been around here for a long time and is a guy you can rely on. He works his butt off and he makes plays. He tried to get a little width from that back side safety because that’s what I was reading, and he did that and went up.”

Pitt, ranked the No. 6 rush defense in the country, held Michigan State to 56 yards rushing and an average of 1.6 per carry on 36 attempts.

But MSU’s defense held Pitt to just four first downs in the second half. Michigan State out-gained Pitt 410-274.

But Pitt built a 21-10 lead based on a 52-yard pass to Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison in the first half, and a scoop and score off a Thorne fumble in the third quarter.

Pitt tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter on a 16-yard scramble by starting QB Nick Patti. But Patti suffered a broken collar bone on the play and was lost for the game. Patti was starting in place of Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett, who opted out of the postseason to focus on the NFL Draft.

“It hurt obviously when Nick went down,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “(Beville) did about as good as he could. You throw a pick in the red zone when you got a chance to at least tie it up, go overtime, you just got to protect the ball, make better decisions.”

Jalen Nailor, playing for the first time since MSU’s victory over Michigan on Oct. 30, had six catches for a team-high 108 yards, including a one-handed 50-yarder.

Haladay led Michigan State with 11 tackles. Brandon Wright and Jacob Slade each had 1.5 sacks.

Pitt ranks No. 2 in the nation in sacks, but Michigan State out-sacked the Panthers, 5-3.

“On defense we just weren’t fresh enough,” Narduzzi said. “Didn’t make enough plays on defense to get off the field.”

(More to come on SpartanMag.com)