In one game, the Spartans might have changed the course of their entire season.
Before Saturday's win against then-No. 19 Minnesota, MSU (4-3 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) was a flawed team possibly headed toward a disappointing follow-up season to last year's unexpected and dramatic improvement.
Now, in the wake of their 51-17 Homecoming win at Spartan Stadium on a cold and rainy afternoon, the Spartans say they are Big Ten contenders.
"Once we come together as a family, as a team, we can do anything," senior linebacker Ronald Stanley said. "I feel we can beat anybody in this league."
MSU's metamorphosis didn't just result from its first win of the season against a ranked team. It resulted from the flat-out beating the Spartans administered against the Gophers (5-2, 2-2).
MSU scored on five of its seven first-half possessions and took a 31-10 halftime lead. The wide margin was plenty for the Spartans, as they continued their strong play throughout the second half to get the win.
With a 3-1 conference record, MSU is alone in third place, behind Wisconsin and Michigan, both of which are 4-0. Purdue, Iowa and Northwestern are tied for fourth with identical 2-1 league records.
With games against Michigan and Wisconsin remaining, the Spartans control their own Big Ten Championship fate.
"If we can stay healthy, and right now we're fairly healthy except for some bumps and bruises, you have a chance," MSU head coach John L. Smith said.
Just as he did last week against Illinois, sophomore quarterback Drew Stanton led the offense through the air and on the ground. This week, though, he rewrote the MSU record book with his performance.
Stanton broke Jeff Smoker's record for total offensive yards in a game with 414. He was 20-of-31 passing for 308 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions; he ran for 102 yards on 13 carries and even caught a pass for a 4-yard gain.
Smoker set the previous record with 393 yards against Fresno State in the 2001 Silicon Valley Bowl.
With the numbers he posted on Saturday, Stanton is sure to get his share of recognition. With that in mind, Stanton brought the starting offensive linemen with him to the postgame press conference. It was his way of giving the often-overlooked linemen a rare piece of the spotlight.
"This is the reason why we're having success," Stanton said of the line. "You guys need to realize that."
The offensive line cleared the way for the Spartans to gain a total of 636 offensive yards, the most by an MSU team since 2001. Again, MSU demonstrated balance on offense - 324 of its yards were on the ground.
"We knew we could run the ball today because the defense wasn't that solid, we felt, and we knew we had capable running backs," said junior running back Jason Teague, who rushed for 53 yards and one touchdown on six carries.
Going into Saturday's game, Minnesota was expected to be the team with an explosive running game. The Gophers came in averaging 301 rushing yards per game but MSU held them to 102.
With such an overwhelming win, there were notable performances on both sides of the ball for MSU. The most curious performance, though, belonged to senior tight end Eric Knott.
Smith decided not to play Knott last weekend against Illinois, although he was healthy. On Saturday, Knott caught two passes, both touchdowns, for a total of 61 yards.
Smith was vague when explaining Knott's sudden demotion and equally sudden re-emergence. He mentioned team responsibilities, such as class and tutor session attendance and effort in practice, when explaining Knott's situation. For now, that situation seems to be resolved.
The Spartans have next week off before traveling to Ann Arbor to play U-M (6-1, 4-0) on Oct. 30 at Michigan Stadium.
