Top Ten Things to Take Away from Beaver Stadium
1. Michigan State is the first 11-win team in school history and the last "traditional" Big Ten champion, with divisions and a title game coming next season. This was the year the Spartans needed to get it done, and they did it.
3. This is not a vintage Penn State team, it's a young one. The Nittany Lions do not have the sure-thing pros in their defensive front seven that we've seen in recent years. Still, it's a pretty good team and the Spartans were throttling that team before the late flurry.
4. The press corps agreed: Had Trenton Robinson's fumble resulted in an onside recovery and comeback win for Penn State, it would have gone down as the single most memorable gaffe in MSU history. Just because of what it would have meant. Brian Linthicum picked him up. As the seconds ticked off the clock, a steady stream of teammates and coaches came up to Robinson to make sure he shrugged it off -- and remembered that he's part of the reason MSU got here in the first place.
5. This was very emotional for Greg Jones.
"Beyond words right now," he said.
A lot of football players dream of winning a championship, and a lot of guys return to school with that in mind, but a lot of them don't actually get to see it come to fruition. Jones and Kirk Cousins have to go down as one of the great leadership 1-2 punches in this program's recent history.
“We’re Big Ten champions, no one can ever take that away from us, it goes on the wall at Spartan Stadium," Cousins said. "As we talk about year-round, ‘Be champions,’ and we did it. You guys don’t even know how much being a champion is stressed around our building, and how much it’s pounded into us. What championship teams do and how we need to improve to be a championship team. And here we are, we have a championship on our resume, and no one can ever take it away from us.”
6. Nothing has changed on the bowl scene, not with co-champs OSU and Wisconsin winning big, but Mark Hollis and Mark Dantonio aren't conceding anything, either. Hollis has the unenviable task of selling MSU over Ohio State, assuming the BCS standings stay the same -- and there's no reason to think they won't.
“We feel we’re right there with Ohio State, if not ahead of them," Hollis said, pointing out that MSU has the Big Ten's highest TV ratings this season, strong Florida showings of late, great story lines and a win over Wisconsin.
Dantonio mentioned the Wisconsin win, too.
"And I might add, did it convincingly," Dantonio said. “I’ll say it twice. We did it convincingly."
I'd say MSU is a definite long shot here, but Hollis is going to give it a major push this week. Mitch Morrall, son of former MSU QB Earl Morrall, is a high-ranking Orange Bowl official, so perhaps that can help the Spartans. We'll see.
7. Don Treadwell called a great game Saturday. He kept Penn State off balance and sprinkled in some trick plays at perfect times. Big play by Keith Nichol, opting to throw to Charlie Gantt and putting it right there.
8. Penn State fans stayed away like I've never seen before. Thousands of empty seats, very noticeable in the student section. Meanwhile, I've never seen anything close to the number of MSU fans who packed the northeast corner of the end zone. The sun popped out for their post-game celebration with the team, and it struck me -- I can't ever recall seeing the sun at Beaver Stadium, going back to 1998. It's usually, dark, cold and nasty here.
9. Colin Neely and Ted Gill had perhaps the most emotional embrace of the day. Neely, MSU's lone Pennsylvania native, had a huge game in his home state. He lost his father at age 15, and Gill has filled some of that role over the years. They had Thanksgiving together, then got to share this in their final regular-season game together.
10. Mark Dantonio is already thinking ahead.
“This program will only get better," he said. "It will not go south, it will only get stronger.”
First, I'd say MSU and its fans deserve a little celebration, 20 years in the making. Enjoy it, folks, I don't need to tell you that it doesn't happen every year. I will tell you, though, that Mark Dantonio's words four years ago -- about aspiring to be the next Iowa or Wisconsin in this league -- are looking mighty prophetic right now.
By the way, do you think people in Iowa are saying "Same Old Hawkeyes" right now?
Every year's different, and there will be ups and downs. But Michigan State is going to have a legitimate product on the field annually now, and the last time that was true, a lot of you were wearing acid-washed jeans.
