Spartans Look to Regroup After Loss to Buckeyes
11/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist | @GrinzOnGreen
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Travis Jackson has experienced the incredible euphoria that comes with winning at an extremely high level. The jovial offensive guard became the face of Michigan State's 2013 success, marked by a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl victory, with his "Yes!" chant.
Less than a year later, the senior co-captain did his best to put a brave face on what just happened behind him during a battle of 4-0 Big Ten teams in Spartan Stadium as Saturday night gave way to Sunday morning. Michigan State had just lost to Ohio State, 49-37, in a game that would rival any from any other league for pizzazz, and media questions were starkly framed in the context dictated by the new, four-team college football playoff format.
The revenge-minded Buckeyes, who lost to MSU in last year's Big Ten Championship Game, took sole possession of first place in the East Division and all but dashed the Spartans' hopes of making it back to the Rose Bowl in a national title semifinal. What was left for Michigan State to play for now that the chances of defending its league crown had gone so dim?
The next game at Maryland, Jackson replied, without pointing out that the world actually hadn't come to an end.
"You know, it's a tough loss," Jackson said. "Ohio State came out, made the big plays and won the game. But it's one of those things where you have to handle a win the same way you handle a loss - 24-hour rule and then we have to move on to the next week.
"We've got 24 hours to get the loss out of us and we've to focus on Maryland because playing there at night is going to be a tough environment. Obviously, you plan to win every game but when you come out and play a really good team, it's going to be a football game. We knew it was going to be a four-quarter game and they made a couple more plays than we did. It's just taking it week to week, like we have been."
The higher the expectations, the bigger the deflation, and the disappointment was palpable.
Imagine how far the Spartans have come in just five years. There were seasons when just getting bowl-eligible and playing in any postseason game was a cause for a sigh of relief, if not a celebration. Now, Michigan State is being asked what it's going to be like to possibly settle for something less - albeit along with all but four other teams.
Coach Mark Dantonio expressed his determination to keep MSU on the same tack that carried it from 6-7 in 2009, to back-to-back 11-win seasons, to a 7-6 turning point in `12 and last season to the Big Ten pinnacle in foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
"I think you play it out," he said. "Right now, the most important thing is that we have only one loss in the Big Ten and an important thing is, don't get two. That's what we can control. And that starts tomorrow.
"So, we will regroup and I think that's what sports teaches you. Somebody is going to win, somebody's going to lose. And, we'll learn this side of the lesson right now. But that's life. I'm not going to sit here and be depressed about it. We'll move forward."
The Spartans did that quite effectively against the Buckeyes while amassing 536 yards of total offense throughout the night. Unfortunately, Ohio State did it a little better while notching its 21st consecutive Big Ten regular-season victory. A 44-yard pass from Connor Cook to Keith Mumphery set up a 15-yard aerial touchdown by the same combination for a 7-0 first-quarter lead. The Buckeyes promptly countered with 19- and 47-yard runs by tailback Ezekiel Elliott that led to a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback J.T. Barrett, the freshman-turned-wunderkind in relief of injured senior Braxton Miller.
Chris Frey's recovery of an Ohio State fumble after an MSU punt put Langford in position to score 12 seconds later on a 33-yard rush. Barrett re-tied the game in the second quarter on a 1-yard run that came five plays after his 43-yard pass to Devin Smith.
The Spartans ground out a score the old-fashioned way on an eight-play, 51-yard drive that ended on Langford's 1-yard plunge for a 21-14 lead with 4:30 left in the first half. And when linebacker Jon Reschke forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Montae Nicholson recovered at the Ohio State 18-yard line, MSU was poised to take control of the game.
However, a holding penalty negated what would have been an 11-yard Langford touchdown and Michael Geiger's 39-yard field-goal attempt was wide left. The Buckeyes not only avoided falling off the edge of the cliff, they charged inland to regain their footing while knocking the Spartans off theirs, with Barrett's 79-yard touchdown pass to Michael Thomas on the very next play for a 14-point swing.
Ohio State then shifted the we-score-you-score sequence to its favor with a 44-yard Barrett-to-Smith touchdown with 56 seconds left in the half.
"All of the sudden, momentum flipped," Dandonio said. "That was a big part of the game, but I think we came out and responded in the second half. We were right there..." And then, they weren't.
Instead of getting the defense off the field with a four-point deficit, the Ohio State took a 35-24 lead that kept the Spartans at bay.
With 300 yards and three touchdowns on 16-for-26 passing and 86 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, Barrett boosted his candidacy for league MVP honors while thrusting the Buckeyes into the national playoff picture.
And yet, like momentum, how easily the script could have been flipped for the Spartans, who lost despite not turning the ball over while taking it away twice.
"We were 31-2 when we're plus-2," Dantonio said of the turnover story. "I guess now we're 31-3."
Cook completed 25 of 45 passes for 358 yards and two scores, while Langford had 137 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries - championship-level numbers. The defense gave up 568 yards and too many explosive plays which caused coordinator Pat Narduzzi to lament, "We didn't give our offense a chance. You should win the game when you score 37 points."
The reality of the situation is, MSU will finish the regular season against the Terrapins, Rutgers and Penn State, while Ohio State finishes with a tough trip to Minnesota and home games against Indiana and Michigan.
"It's hard, but it happened," said Langford. "We lost, so now we have to respond. We have three more games left, so we have to control our own future. If we come out and win those three games, you never know what could happen."
