I believe the MSU Spartans can beat any football team in the country.

Let me back up for a moment and explain a harebrained statement like that.

I watched a couple of games on television over the weekend. One of them was the Detroit Pistons' dramatic win against the Boston Celtics on Friday. Another was an all-too-typical, alcoholism-inspiring Spartan meltdown that could compete with the likes of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

With less than a second left on the clock in Boston, Richard Hamilton hit nothing but net on a turnaround jumper to lift the Pistons in improbable fashion over the Celtics. The Spartans were in a similar situation Saturday afternoon, driving toward the end zone with time running out, when Drew Stanton threw a crushing interception.

I'm comparing two completely different sports at different levels, but it speaks volumes to the root of the Spartans' troubles.

Hamilton didn't make that bucket just because he's a great shooter, but because he plays like a champion. When it looked like they were beaten, the Pistons went back out on the court to take care of business on one last play. They have the attitude of champions, play like they know they're going to win and get results.

The Spartans' play reminds me more of the Detroit Lions. I hate to call the guys out, but our boys in green and white play like a bunch of losers. On crucial third downs, our receivers drop passes that hit them in the hands. In fourth-quarter crunch time, our defense can't come up with a key stop. It's not that we don't have the talent. We just don't have the will.

As ABC commentator Gary Danielson said several weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio, MSU finds ways "to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory."

When the Wolverines came into East Lansing earlier this year, they had no right to win that game. They were outmatched. But Michigan has a special tradition, and when they suit up, they expect to win. We Spartans were only hoping not to lose again.

Our Achilles' heel — our perpetual underdog attitude — gets at the heart of what I love about college sports. The intangibles mean more than anything else. All the five-star recruits in the world won't guarantee a winning team. I think MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo understands this. He's built MSU's basketball program from the ground up with guys like Mateen Cleaves whose hearts are bigger than their verticals. I wish coach Izzo would spread the word. Perseverance matters. Drive matters. Leadership matters. Teamwork matters.

I've watched Spartan football games this season in which I saw none of those qualities. I've seen our team give up. I've seen them fall apart in the face of adversity. As a fan, those things hurt more than any hard-fought loss.

At the beginning of the season, Illinois head coach Ron Zook printed his entire team T-shirts that read "Believe." Zook might be coaching the worst team in the conference, but he's a step ahead of John L. Smith in turning around a program of perennial losers because he understands that it all starts with a winning attitude.

MSU football will never regain the prominence it had in the late 1940s under Biggie Munn unless it recaptures some of the determination he showed when, after getting buried in Ann Arbor his first year on the job, he vowed never to be beaten like that again.

We need people who believe with a certain uncompromising ferocity. Coach Smith, do you believe? Drew Stanton, do you believe? Fence-sitting alumni, do you believe? Students who get bored and start "the wave" or file out at halftime, do you believe? I believe.

I need one coach, 22 athletes and 75,000 unruly fans who believe to join me in Spartan Stadium on Nov. 19 and ruin Penn State's season.

Bob Darrow is the State News administration reporter. He can be reached at darrowro@msu.edu.