37-6
It really comes down to turnovers. Three provided to Iowa, all Kirk Cousins picks, one brought all the way back, another leading to an Iowa touchdown. None created. Everything else followed from that.
So it's a blowout, it's a reality dose, it's the end of the BCS title talk, and perhaps it was impacted by the Chris L. Rucker stuff. No one in the MSU locker room would agree with that idea, of course, including Mark Dantonio. Rucker was not made available to reporters (even though MSU should have brought him out to put some closure on this matter, rather than delay it so this continues as a story line).
“Rucker was no distraction to us at all," Jerel Worthy said. "He’s our teammate, he’s our homeboy and things like that. And whether he was on the field or he was on the sideline, we still have to come out and play Spartan football. Unfortunately guys didn’t play the way they were supposed to play today, and Rucker was in no way a distraction to us.”
What about all the negative attention after he was reinstated?
“Well, fortunately that has nothing to do with me. Coach D. made that decision, the team backed him and supported him. We were happy to have him on our sideline. … One guy doesn’t really affect a game. As a defense, collectively, we have to play better, whether Rucker’s out there or not.”
The Rucker story, blown up as large as possible by the way MSU handled it, will nevertheless fade soon. The good news for the Spartans -- if they can look at it this way after such a lopsided defeat -- is that their Big Ten championship hopes have not faded. Three wins and they have a piece. If Ohio State loses at Iowa on Nov. 20, they probably also have a spot in the Rose Bowl.
“We’re still an 8-1 football team, that’s the thing I think we have to recognize," Dantonio said. “The reason I thought our team was special when I said this to them last February was they’ve been able to handle adversity. And that has to take place now, so we’ll find out a little bit more about ourselves next weekend. ...”
“Life’s not fair. If there’s one thing I’ve figured out, guys, life is not fair. You deal with what comes down to you. You go through your trials and tribulations and you bounce back. And that’s what we have to do. But our football team has done that before, we’ll be fine.”
Dantonio said he'll find out about his team next week. I'm not sure how a win against Minnesota could be considered a defining moment. But I'm pretty sure MSU will be 10-1 heading to Penn State to play for a championship, and that's the bottom line despite how poorly the past three days have gone for Dantonio's team.
