Iowa City, Iowa - Love was in the air Saturday.
Terry Love, that is.
The redshirt freshman caught his first career reception for 19 yards in the second quarter of MSU's 38-16 loss at Iowa on Saturday.
Then he caught his second career ball on a 9-yard slant rout - good enough for another first down.
His third career catch came two plays later, a 4-yard gain.
After the next three plays, Love would add his fourth, fifth and sixth career catches.
The only thing that could stop Love late in the second quarter was his shoe - which came off - forcing him to the sidelines.
Love would add three more receptions to his not-so-long ago empty résumé in the second half, giving him nine on the day with 103 yards. The nine catches are the most by a Spartans receiver this season.
"I was real happy to finally get a shot," Love said. "I just knew I would be getting a chance today, and I wanted to make the most of it and help the team."
The Spartans' depth at receiver, both the flanker and slot positions, has kept Love out of the mix. But he got his chance Saturday because junior slot receiver Agim Shabaj didn't make the trip to Iowa. Shabaj has been slowed by an ankle injury as well as other ailments.
Looking at the accolades Love received in high school, his success should have came as no surprise to anyone.
Love attended Proviso East High School in Illinois, along with MSU basketball standout Shannon Brown, where Love re-wrote the receiving record book. His 77 career catches for 2,216 yards and 21 touchdowns, along with his 3,953 career all-purpose yards earned him All-State honors his senior season, as well as high praise from college football magazines and Web sites such as "Superprep," "Prepstar," Collegesports.com and Rivals.com.
Still, Love pointed out his success didn't come against the best competition.
"I went against a lot of linebackers and not-true corners, so it was kind of easy to run short routes and get open on them," Love said. "But later on in the game, they started rolling over a couple corners that played a lot."
Injuries were another reason given for Love's slow, but sudden emergence.
"He's been banged, too, he's a little bit fragile," head coach John L. Smith said.
"But I think he's getting stronger. He's worked hard in the weight room to get stronger because he is - slight."
Love, who sat out last season, has been plagued by pulled hamstrings and bruises. A knee sprain kept him out of the last two weeks of spring practice.
"He's getting better, and hopefully he's ready to step up and do some things," Smith said.
Love's performance against Iowa, in Smith's eyes, might be just the step he was looking for.
"Terry Love had a positive day," Smith said. "For the most part, he caught the ball. He juggled it at times, but I thought he ran some good routes and did a good job."
Smith said Love's increase in playing time might not be a one-time deal.
"Maybe we're not asking enough of Terry Love, maybe he should be the guy we should be asking more of because he produced today," Smith said.
"Bottom line is, you need some production, but I was proud of him."
When asked whether or not he felt he had earned a starting position, Love's only response was, "I don't know."
As humble as Love remained, sophomore quarterback Drew Stanton was excited to talk about his new target.
"He really did show a lot today," Stanton said. "He stepped up and made some big plays for us. I think he's going to progress into a good receiver for us."
