Madison, Wis. - As far as blowouts go, MSU has seen plenty in the past two seasons. But this year was supposed to be different.

With a new coach and a new attitude, the Spartans were supposedly beyond getting torn apart. Instead, they gave up 200 yards rushing to one player and 200 yards receiving to another in the same game.

For many of the Spartans (7-4 overall, 4-3 Big Ten), the 56-21 shellacking was all too familiar. When asked if he had seen players do what Dwayne Smith and Lee Evans accomplished in one game, MSU senior defensive end Greg Taplin could only shrug his shoulders and respond, "I played for Michigan State last year."

But Taplin wants to make sure everyone knows this is a completely different scenario than when the team was last blown out, by a score of 61-7 at Penn State last season.

"Bobby Williams got fired and we had a bunch of coaches that just knew they weren't going to be here," Taplin said. "So they weren't really coaching hard. And the players weren't really playing hard for the coaches.

"This is just a different scenario. Now we're playing for our future."

While MSU's performance could remind many of last season's 4-8 finish, the reality is that the team will be going to a bowl game, just not to the Outback Bowl or Capital One Bowl.

"We do only have one game left and it's a must-win game," senior linebacker Mike Labinjo said. "It's pretty tough to lose by the margin that we lost by, but I hope that everybody shows up for the next game, because I know that today as a team, not everybody showed up."

While the Spartans have prided themselves on playing with everything on the line all season, they did not show up with the same mentality at Wisconsin.

Maybe it was a hangover from the past two weeks, but now the Spartans find themselves staring down a tough game against Penn State, who crushed Indiana 52-7 on Saturday.

"It just doesn't feel good," senior quarterback Jeff Smoker said. "Everybody tries to press right now, not just me. Everybody wants to make things happen by themselves. The only way we can get on track is to pull together as a team."

MSU head coach John L. Smith believes that this was a game his coaching staff did not prepare the team for.

"We definitely did not play with the effort and state of mind that we need to play with if we expect to win," senior guard Paul Harker said. "Today was just one of those days when nothing went right."

The one thing the Spartans hope to avoid is the finger pointing that occurred last season. None has occurred yet, but the disappointment is mounting.

"We just got overanxious and got some stupid penalties," junior running back DeAndra Cobb said.

For Taplin and the rest of the Spartans, the memories of starting 7-1 are fading, but they are not completely out of reach yet. But for Taplin, a native of Florida, the disappointment of what could have been is here to stay.

"Three weeks ago, we were thinking about Big Ten champs," he said. "Now we're just trying to go somewhere warm."