In its first game as a ranked team in six years, Northwestern beat Michigan State 24-21 on a 34-yard field goal with 2 seconds left after an earlier special teams call nearly doomed the No. 25 Wildcats.

On a fourth and 8 from its 28-yard line, Northwestern coach David Braun opted for a fake punt with 3:29 to play, and the game tied at 21. The curious decision backfired spectacularly with an incomplete pass that turned the ball over on downs to the Spartans.

“We’re not going to operate off a platform of fear,” Braun told reporters afterward. “I made a decision with the fake punt, I thought it was a good call, in hindsight it wasn’t.”

Braun said the Wildcats thought they were set up well for the fake and wanted to avoid giving the ball back to Michigan State and quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, who completed 19 of 30 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

“Based on the down and distance and other factors, felt we had an advantageous look,” Braun said, according to Wildcat Report. “Michigan State was moving the ball, specifically with their last punt return. Obviously in hindsight, it was a horrible decision.”

Somehow, it wasn’t the end for Northwestern, which was forced into burning all its timeouts as Michigan State kept the ball on the ground while playing for a game-winning field goal. But the 33-yard atttempt by the Spartans’ Liam Boyd was blocked with 1:05 remaining.

Northwestern then drove 64 yards in eight plays for the third and fina field goal by Jackson KLeather, who also had an earlier attempt blocked in a game that often hinged on special teams.

“We didn’t expect anything less,” Braun told NBC Sports’ Caroline Pineda on Peacock. “That’s a great football team over there, it’s hard to win on the road in the Big Ten.

“Our offense, we’re not going to play from a platform of fear. We were aggressive at the end of the game. Great stop by our defense. Offense goes down and executes. What a finish to a great game.”

Emotions were running high on both sidelines of a game filled with revenge motivations.

In his first year as coach of the Spartans, Pat Fitzgerald was facing the school that fired him three years ago during a hazing scandal. Wildcats quarterback Aidan Chiles was taking on a Michigan State team that had benched him last season.

Fitzgerald, who took a shot at Northwestern’s lack of fan support, was constantly exhorting the home crowd in East Lansing, Michigan, for support, and the Spartans fans were booing Chiles from before the kickoff.

Braun said Chiles “met the moment all week long just staying true to himself and to the team. Really proud of him and the team.”

After a shaky start, Chiles completed 18 of 27 passes for 226 yards and rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

“I thought it should have been this close, that’s on us,” Chiles told Pineda. “But at the end of the day, we came out with the win. I’m just happy that I got to play football today, and that my family got to watch me.”