Drew Stanton put an end to the back-and-forth trash-talking featuring suggestions for Slim-Fast and winter hibernation jokes from MSU head coach John L. Smith.

After an interception-free spring season, the senior quarterback cannot only say he accomplished one of his personal goals in the last month, but he won a friendly wager with Smith.

"He can't talk about me in the papers any more, but I can talk about him as much as I want," Stanton said about the stakes.

"It was just a little bet. It is a tough goal to get through that many practices and not throw a pick, and there were times that I think the guys dropped some for me. But it was a nice goal for me to accomplish and it will help me out for next year."

A shaggier, bulky-looking Stanton entered spring football with the letdowns of last season still lingering in the air and whispers about his bigger frame.

But emerging from the surrounding uncertainty, Stanton is actively assuming his leadership role, taking advantage of every moment he has left and looking to do nothing but win.

"I want to cherish any moment that I have — any time I get to come out here and play around and play in front of this crowd — I will do this for as long as I can," he said.

"This is why you put all that hard work in, to build up to your senior year, hope that everything is in place. I feel like that it is coming together for me."

In the next couple of weeks, Stanton will be focusing on working out, especially with the receivers, and taking the last couple of classes he needs to get his degree.

"You know, it's gone by so fast that it is kind of awkward for me to be my last spring," he said. "It is getting to that time of year where it is getting to be my last time of doing things, but I'm just going to take it for what it's worth, and I am going to enjoy every second."

Rugged veteran

Stanton stood on the sidelines, helmet in hand during most of the sets at the spring season's final scrimmage on Friday. He talked with the coaches and other younger quarterbacks, acting more as a teacher than the starting quarterback.

While he looked strong in action, completing six passes and throwing 61 yards during a couple sets, this spring has been crucial for him to help the coaching staff develop his successors and set the tone for the Spartans quarterbacks.

"He's a huge student of the game and he's probably the best person to learn from because he knows where he's going with the ball pretty much before the ball's snapped," redshirt freshman quarterback Domenic Natale said. "We always watch him and ask him, 'What'd you see?' or, 'Why'd you do that?' and he'll explain it."

Natale said Stanton has a lot of expectations to fill in his senior year, and it is obvious to him that Stanton wants to go out as a winner.

At the collegiate level, Stanton has learned that the quarterback can be the first to blame for team problems.

"You have to be able to shoulder the burdens, you have to get through the bad," he said. "Hopefully we won't have to experience too many bad times this year.

"But if it happens, I got to be able to step up and be a leader of this team."

Which is exactly what Smith has been asking of him this spring — a bigger leadership role, and doing everything possible on the offensive side of the ball. But has the pressure gotten to him this early? Coming out of spring, Stanton said he's comfortable stepping up more in the fall and is confident in the squad.

"It comes down to being leaders when the coaches aren't looking," he said. "It comes down to doing the little things that are going to help us in the fall."

Stanton has grown used to people giving him their two cents about the way he runs the plays on the field and even how he has been wearing his hair longer recently. Just last week, Stanton returned to his shorter look after a sideburn-shaving mishap.

"I couldn't go around school looking like an idiot, so I had to get a haircut," he confessed at practice last week.

Regardless of his appearance, the younger players look up to Stanton's work ethic and leadership shown during spring ball. Sophomore quarterback Brian Hoyer said despite his important team role, Stanton remains levelheaded.

"He's not cocky; he's not like that," he said. "He's just a great leader for this team and he puts everything in the right perspective."

With a strong history of standout MSU quarterbacks, such as Tony Banks, Jim Miller and Jeff Smoker, Stanton wants to carry on the legacy.

"Hopefully when it is all said and done, I can be measured with some of those guys and remembered as one of the great Spartan quarterbacks."

A winning mentality

As the Big Ten's most accurate passer last season with a 66.7 completion percentage and throwing a second-best conference average 279.7 yards per game, the Spartans will look to Stanton to pilot the team to a long-awaited bowl game next fall.

"I won't be satisfied with anything else," he said. "I wasn't satisfied last year, it is tough to say.

"We are going to go to a bowl game this year. We have to have that mentality — we have to play hard and perfect all the time."

Stanton said he has been working on always having feet underneath him and concentrated this spring on always being able make the pitch and problem solve during breakdowns.

These breakdown situations became too familiar last year after the MSU squad jump started the season 4-0, only to end 5-6 without a bowl bid for the second year in a row. But Stanton said he can weather the storms and find success with the Spartans this year.

"I've always said I think we've experienced darn-near everything we can experience in my career here … being able to go through that and knowing how we responded and kind of correct that," Stanton said.

"We just need to keep the mentality that it is one game at a time, it doesn't matter who we are playing — we need to go out there and execute. And if we are capable of doing that, then we can beat anybody."

Laura Collins can be reached at colli313@msu.edu.