When the Spartans walked away from Saturday's homecoming game with a blowout 51-17 win against formerly-ranked Minnesota, a lot of people wondered: "Where did this team come from?"

Plain and simple, MSU played well and Minnesota didn't. The post-game stats showing record gains in yards (636 total) will attest to that. Sophomore quarterback Drew Stanton became the first quarterback in MSU history to throw more than 300 yards and run more than 100 in just one game. Numbers like this surprised even those with the bleakest, darkest view of MSU football. And there were a few out there.

Still, the big win hasn't won over every skeptic. It's one thing to be poised for a Big Ten Championship, but it's another thing altogether to actually win it.

Rampant media speculation - which widely projected a loss for MSU - left some Spartans players with a chip on their shoulder, questioning the fashionable doubt. Given the season's early history, it was hard for the media to do anything but doubt the Spartans. Head coach John L. Smith said it best when the Spartans dropped a Big Ten road trip to Iowa: "We're a bad team."

MSU hasn't lost since then, and the revamps made to MSU's football team might finally be paying off. Momentum from the win will carry through the bye week, but it's just one win, and the team still has to run the gauntlet of five more challenging games. Spartans football might have caught some deserved shine, but they're going to have to prove this win was more than a fluke.

That being said, what the Spartans have now is a real opportunity. The football team proved just about everyone wrong and won in the face of the adversity existing outside of the Spartan locker room. A drubbing of the team that nearly beat perennial rival University of Michigan puts some spin on a season, so here's to hoping the enthusiasm will last.

So, here's what you can do to prove your loyalty to Spartans football. Unless, of course, the players like being doubted and playing the underdog. Anyway, if you're of age, reclaim the Wilson tennis courts to tailgate at the Nov. 6 game against Ohio State. Post-regulation tailgating has killed attendance, even in traditional alumni spots, but we shouldn't let these regulations destroy the tailgating scene. Keep on fighting the good fight, but for the sake of Spartans football and a clear arrest record, scrap the table, drinking wheel and your table tennis balls and get out there.

We've all seen that there's no more electric time on campus than when we're riding the swell of support behind a hot athletics team. In fact, we've been known to ride that swell to dangerous consequences. So Nov. 6, let's start tailgating to celebrate that aspect of being an MSU student. The football team is giving us a reason to, and we'd be remiss to skip out on the opportunity.

We'd like to encourage all students that glass-half-empty perceptions of your team put a limit to the fun and debauchery that college football brings us all. Saturday, the Spartans gave us 51 reasons why. So get out on Nov. 6 to tailgate within the bounds of the law, but please buy a shirt that says "Beer pong is not a crime" before doing so.