MSU’s early tests could help later in the year
EAST LANSING — Michigan State’s team leaders took care of it right away, having no idea at the time how often the discussion would be necessary.
After a season-opening 37-24 win over Western Michigan, in which a 24-point MSU lead turned into a late Vayante Copeland interception to keep it from becoming a one-possession game, the locker room was grim. This was not the look of a top-5 team.
“You kind of got the sense in the locker room that everybody wasn’t happy with the win because we didn’t play as well as we should have, and we kind of spoke about that after,” said MSU senior linebacker and tri-captain Darien Harris. “We said, ‘Hey, it’s hard to win out here, man. Every single week. You can watch games and games are close, no matter who you are and who you’re playing against. Games are gonna be close because teams have got players.’ … I think we’ve kind of changed that mindset. We’re gonna celebrate wins no matter what. We don’t have to apologize for winning out there.”
But the Spartans are basically asked to do so each week, and Mark Dantonio’s impatience with that now trumps — at least publicly — any concerns about No. 4 MSU’s level of play entering Saturday’s game at Rutgers (8 p.m., Big Ten Network). The Spartans are 5-0, and they’re also falling in the polls, dropping out of current playoff projections, needing big fourth-quarter plays to hold on against Central Michigan and Purdue, and dealing with a sprawling injury list.
But they’re 5-0.
“The bottom line is you need to win — I don’t feel frustration,” Dantonio said Tuesday. “I felt there was no frustration in that locker room after the (Purdue) game. Guys were excited to play. It’s tough to win games. It is tough to win. I don’t care who you play. And people spend 80-plus hours as coaches every week to develop a plan with what they have.
“Players spend 20 hours on mandated, I guess, and then they spend countless hours away from it by themselves trying to figure out how to do things to the best of their ability. So everybody’s got a plan coming in. Everybody’s going to be able to recruit a certain level of player. There’s parity in college football. All you have to do is look around. And so when we win, that’s a good thing. That’s a positive thing.”
If the Spartans can get past the Scarlet Knights (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten), they’ll be able to focus on a game that would be impressive to win regardless of the final score — Oct. 17 at No. 18 Michigan.
If the Spartans can get past the Scarlet Knights, it will extend Dantonio’s second longest-winning streak at MSU to 10, extend MSU’s school-record Big Ten road winning streak to 11, and improve the Spartans to 32-3 in their past 35 games.
MSU’s 29 wins since the start of the 2013 season is third-best in the nation in that time. And that’s why, if the Spartans get past the Scarlet Knights but have to struggle and come up with fourth-quarter plays to do so, outside negativity will follow. That’s where expectations are now.
“Obviously we want to win by more, kind of finish it out better,” MSU junior linebacker Riley Bullough said. “But things happen. You’ve got to adjust.”
And at times, you’ve got to adjust attitudes.
“We’ve been tested a few times this year, had some games that have been different a few ways,” Bullough said. “That’s good for a team, it gives us experience, which I think is gonna help us as we move forward in the season.”
Saturday’s game
No. 4 MSU at Rutgers
• When: 8 p.m.
• TV/radio: Big Ten Network/WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM