“Well, I'll tell you this,” Tressel said. “I'm used to seeing in the previous nine years that you mentioned, when the first person gets there, even if he's just hanging on, the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth guys that are there just like bam bam bam bam; and I'm not seeing that right now.”
He accentuated the “bam, bam, bam,” elevating his voice and pounding his fist into his hand.
He seems to be the only one kicking right now, fighting back against the reaper lurking over MSU’s shoulder.
Multiple beat writers wore black garments in the box, an almost unconscious recognition of a dead year. Riley Bullough looked tired in his chair. Demetrious Cox looked sullen, responding with frustration in his voice. And Mark Dantonio, consistently calm, continued to be so.
There was a stale vexation behind Dantonio’s eyes, delivered by the perplexities of not being able to fix the same self-inflicted wounds for the fourth straight week.
Four losses in a row, kill.
But the last of the four, the 54-40 loss to Northwestern, all but erased the existence of the season.
The only thing left for MSU is a midnight hour reciting of the rosary, praying it’ll be enough to stave off last rites.
Coaches, no matter the outlook, harangue into the tried and true coach speak of saving a season, often blurting about “finding ways to stay the course” and emphasizing a “new focus on the next play.”
“From my perspective, yeah we have six games to go — hopefully we get a little tougher every game,” Dantonio said. “That old phrase, ‘tough times don't last, tough people do.' That applies.”
At this point that is the gist of it — remaining tough and steadfast against a lost season. But with four losses all in a row, the flame of the midnight candle has chewed through the wick.
MSU football lacks the kiss of life of a 12-win season and the braggadocious swagger of being nearly unbeatable. The togetherness seems gone, and the blame for that is not easily pinned. It looks like a team that binged on success and never fully knew how to recover.
Poor gang tackling, trying to stop a running back with just the arms and a team that doesn’t seem to realize it takes three stops to force a punt has left MSU with the odorous honor of being one of the nation’s worst defenses on third down.
It has allowed Wisconsin, Indiana, BYU and Northwestern to put MSU’s vaunted defenses of the past into a cardboard box and smack the label of “archives” onto the lid. After allowing 45 points in the first half of its six games, the "Spartan Dawg" defense has crumbled to a puppy and given up 132 in the second half.
Putrid.
It took last-resort offensive play calling to even salvage 40 points. The offense has a run game so stagnant it makes Pop Warner football look like the Pac-12.
As Dantonio iterated after the game, there’s no easy fix.
Getting those stops and delivering on offense comes with taking pride in the goal ahead. It seems to be there in spurts and in a select group of players. But only one man can do so much, and MSU continues to find out they have no one man capable of winning games.
Everything about the program’s current state reeks of lost hope. This football team is all but dead in the water. Though they’ll fight on and try to toughen up, this season is awash and awaits the final nail in the coffin.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
The only positive that comes with this season is the chance for self-reflection and a rejuvenation of the plans. But for now, barring any drastic changes, don’t expect a resurrection.
