Spartans Want to `Finish Strong' Against Purdue
10/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Of the 30 games Michigan State has lost in eight seasons under head coach Mark Dantonio, it's hard to find many, if any, that were due to an emotional letdown following a big win or gut-wrenching defeat.
The Spartans have dropped games to teams that were simply superior, or played better on that particular day, but coming out flat just hasn't been the M.O. of this program.
"Ever since I've been here," said senior middle linebacker Taiwan Jones, "Michigan State has been known as the underdog. A lot of people still don't respect us and they think we're not good enough, so we have to show them we're good enough whether we're at the No. 1 spot or not ranked at all.
"That's had a huge impact on how we approach each game."
Teams prone to mood swings don't finish the season with 10 consecutive wins as MSU did in 2013.
Even in 2012, which is often looked upon as the dark days of the resurgence that's been underway since 2010, the Spartans were competitive in all but one game.
Five of their six losses were by an average of 2.6 points and one went to overtime. After a galling two-point loss to Michigan, in which the Spartans didn't allow a touchdown, Michigan State came back the following week to win at Wisconsin by three points, also in OT. And after heartbreaking losses, by a total of seven points, to Nebraska and Northwestern, the Spartans rose to the occasion on the final day of the regular season to beat Minnesota on the road and become bowl eligible.
Three years ago, MSU went through a murder's row of games against Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin unscathed. They weren't quite with it during a 24-3 loss at Nebraska, but went undefeated the rest of the way against Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern to win the Legends Division Championship.
"We go by the 24-hour period," said fifth-year senior offensive lineman Connor Kruse. "After the game's done, you have 24 hours to dwell on that game, think about it, have fun with it, and after that 24 hours is done, you're on to the next task.
"By having that mindset, each week going into the next game it doesn't matter what their record is or what our record is, it's just us against them. I think that helps everybody come back to play to our full potential each week. Me personally, I've never come out here and had a bad day because of anything that's happened prior. I might have had a bad day because I'm taking bad steps or my hands aren't right while blocking somebody, but it's not because of a previous factor."
After what happened last Saturday night - when what was shaping up as a blowout ended as a 27-22 close call after Nebraska scored the final 19 points - the Spartans are taking steps to go by a 30-minute period so they don't fizzle out at the end of the game regardless of the score.
Letting the blade go dull against the Cornhuskers has MSU sharpening up to have a lasting edge when it visits Purdue on Saturday.
 | "We haven't finished in the fourth quarter yet this year. This week, it's about starting fast again and finishing strong." -Senior offensive lineman Connor Kruse |
"We haven't finished in the fourth quarter yet this year," Kruse said. "Even in the games we won big, we didn't score many points in the fourth quarter. Last week we definitely didn't do much, and it was a bad fourth quarter.
"This week, it's about starting fast again and finishing strong."
The Spartans have outscored opponents 77-15 in the first quarter and 93-17 in the second for a 170-32 bulge in the first half. However, they are being outscored 71-58 in the second half, including a 40-21 deficit in the final period.
Of course, much of the disparity has to do with lopsided outcomes against Jacksonville State (45-7), Eastern Michigan (73-14) and Wyoming (56-14), in which Dantonio emptied his bench after halftime.
However, after taking a 27-18 lead early in the second half at Oregon, Michigan State gave up four unanswered touchdowns - two in what was left of the third quarter and two in the fourth - to lose 46-27.
The 19-0 fourth quarter against the Cornhuskers is still especially difficult to choke down.
"That's why this week we're focusing on making sure we're finishing every little thing," Kruse said. "Playing through the whistle, making sure you're sustaining your block all the way through until coach tells you to come on back. We taking care of every little detail to make sure that in the end of the game, we've given our all."
The weird thing about the Nebraska game is, the Spartans didn't relax so much that they weren't in position to make plays. If fifth-year senior free safety and co-captain Kurtis Drummond comes down with the interception he'll make the next 99 times he gets the same a chance, he almost certainly returns it for a touchdown and a 34-9 lead, and maybe Nebraska folds its tent. Instead, the ball was caught for a 41-yard gain and a few minutes later MSU's lead was down to 27-16.
Or, if the 36-yard field-goal attempt Michael Geiger can make left-footed in his sleep, doesn't bounce off the goal post, the Spartans lead is 30-22 and the Cornhuskers' opportunity for a comeback on their final possession is considerably more daunting.
Defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi would have preferred winning going away, but acknowledges the experience that comes from successfully facing adversity is priceless.
"We didn't make plays and there were a couple times we could have ended the whole thing early," he said. "Great defenses finish those plays. We had three missed interceptions. But I think this is a good place to be.
"It's good to be in a battle at the end and win it. It's good to be in a two-minute situation at the end and win the game that way. Now would I choose to do that again with the threat of being able to lose? No. But when you get in those situations, you build character that way and you learn how to win that way. It's a good situation."
Playing on the road requires a team a team to ratchet things down a little tighter because there is no home-field advantage to assist with maintaining a high emotion level, said junior outside linebacker Ed Davis.
"When you go on the road, it shows our toughness because we don't have the crowd on our side," he said. "When we're on the road, we really harp on doing well and communicating."
The Spartans will never know if routing Nebraska would have had them surging with momentum going into Purdue, which improved to 3-3 after beating Illinois 38-27, or if they would have broken from tradition and gone in overconfident and complacent. But, Davis is pretty sure they'll benefit from the scare they got from the Cornhuskers.
"I think it showed the whole team that no matter how good we're doing, if we let up, anybody can come back and win against us," he said. "That pushes us forward and makes us grow so we know we have to finish games off.
"We have great chemistry. We trust each other, we trust the coaches, we trust the scheme and we never give up. If something isn't going our way, we're usually able to pull through because we're together as a unit. We've still got a lot of young players, so it's good we came through that adversity against Nebraska like we did. Now we'll grow more."
