MSU's rise tied to 4 key moments

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Mark Dantonio talked with the media every day during his and Michigan State's warm-up week ahead of the Capital One Bowl. He chatted each morning at practice. He spoke at length Wednesday when he and Georgia coach Mark Richt gave a final, in-depth overview of their teams on the eve of a high-profile New Year's Day bowl.

But nothing that Dantonio said before the game, nothing a coach offered in his insights or in his introspection, was as profound as his summary after the Spartans had been beaten, 24-12, by the Bulldogs at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.

"We needed to compete against a team like that," said Dantonio, "and we did."

At that point, he could have hopped aboard the team bus, having reflected on all that mattered about Thursday's rendition of football, a la Dantonio, during the final day of his second season at East Lansing.

In fact, Thursday was the fourth time in three months the Spartans had shown vividly how far a football team has come, and how much MSU must be respected within the Big Ten -- and nationally -- heading into 2009.

Muscling up

The first occasion came Oct. 4 against Iowa at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans beat the Hawkeyes, 16-13, delivering a punch to match what might have been the most physical team in the Big Ten. It was no fluke that Iowa was the only team -- other than Southern California in the Rose Bowl -- to have beaten Penn State during the past season, or the only Big Ten team to have thus far won a bowl game.

When the Spartans cut down the Hawkeyes in a trench-warfare classic, fans and critics had a first glimpse at Michigan State's emerging muscle.

The next revelation came three weeks later in Ann Arbor. The Spartans have had their problems with the Wolverines along the way -- say, for the past 40 years -- and looked as if they were in the soup again after U-M came from behind to take a 21-14 lead in the third quarter.

These are the games Michigan State typically loses to Michigan. This time, the Spartans scored three consecutive touchdowns to win, 35-21.

It was a sign that a team's psyche was growing in tandem with its physical skills. It was Dantonio's first victory against U-M and a milestone triumph for his program.

Beating the Wolverines on their home field was a necessary prelude to what happened in East Lansing a week later.

Getting the breaks

MSU won a thriller, the kind of games quality programs manage to win on a day when they're otherwise outplayed.

It took some luck along the way -- Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema's sideline rant and subsequent penalty changed the course of the Big Ten standings -- but good teams take advantage of breaks.

Quality teams also feature kickers whose blood doesn't turn to sludge when they're asked to kick a 44-yard field goal with seven seconds to play and their team trailing, 24-22.

The victory over Wisconsin let everyone know that Michigan State could be the beneficiary -- and not always the victim -- in a tight game where weird things happen in the waning minutes. It was another manifestation of how comprehensively MSU football was changing under Dantonio.

A final glimpse at Michigan State's two-year transformation came Thursday, curiously, during a defeat.

What made it revealing had to do with Dantonio's words afterward about competing "against a team like that." He understood better than anyone how difficult it had been to play a team as wickedly talented as No. 16 Georgia and to have maintained a lead over the Bulldogs deep into the third quarter.

He also knew, as a former secondary coach and defensive coordinator, how brilliantly coaches and players had meshed in their shutting down of Georgia's brilliant wide receivers, Mohamed Massaquoi and A.J. Green.

The Spartans bumped and hounded them to a point they had one catch between them, all while entrusting State's cornerbacks to an abundance of man coverage in a game where MSU blitzed with passion.

So, chalk up another growth spurt for a team that now knows it can play with the big boys and expect to win.

Change at the helm

Bear in mind that the Spartans won nine games this season with a quarterback who was limited. Brian Hoyer's plus was that he could read defenses and do an adequate job of protecting the ball. They were the chief reasons why he remained at quarterback ahead of a sharper passer, Kirk Cousins.

Dantonio could not afford to have his quarterback beat his team. That Hoyer was not a great bet to win a game, as top-shelf quarterbacks often do, was not part of the equation. The head coach had to make a more reserved decision. Next year, with Cousins and Keith Nichol competing for a starting job, Dantonio will have his franchise quarterback in place, with Nichol most likely to start.

Getting better will not be automatic, of course. MSU won a couple of squeakers in 2008 against teams that were superior, physically. But the coach continues to add bigger, better pieces to his recruiting cart, and also is about as sharp as anybody in his profession.

Combined, the ingredients are a pretty good recipe for success. And that's what's likely ahead for Michigan State's football team, as even Thursday's game showed.

You can reach Lynn Henning at lynn.henning@detnews.com">lynn.henning@detnews.com