In sports, a short memory is one of the most important assets to have. It's not often athletes like to dwell on past mistakes or think about what went wrong.
That holds especially true for the Spartans this year. And who can blame them? Not much went right for the team in 2005. After winning its first four games, the Spartans lost six of their last seven, finished 5-6 and missed a bowl game for the second straight season.
But there's one game in particular the players all seem to remember.
On Oct. 22, the Spartans were ranked No. 22 and were heavy favorites when they hosted Northwestern in front of a Homecoming crowd.
But the Wildcats turned in a stunning performance, scoring seven unanswered touchdowns en route to a 49-14 blowout. The defeat kept the Spartans' losing streak alive, and MSU went on to win just one of its four remaining games.
"They came in here and kicked our ass," offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin said this week. "It was an embarrassment."
It's not like the Spartans need to draw from outside sources to get up for Saturday's game. Their four straight losses should be enough fuel to make them play with abandon at Northwestern. But the players are using last year's game as a reminder to not underestimate any opponent.
"That's a game that in a way took us by surprise," senior center Kyle Cook said. "That team came out to play a lot faster and a lot better than we did that game.
"We've got to do that. … We've got to have that kind of momentum. We've got to have that kind of win."
Drew Stanton took the loss particularly hard. The then-junior quarterback threw for 234 yards and one touchdown, but the three interceptions he threw inside the Northwestern 35-yard line are what will be remembered.
"It was probably the worst game I've had in my career," Stanton said. "There's no doubt about it — I probably single-handedly lost that game. I get another chance to go down there this year and play against a lot of those same guys, and I'm looking forward to that challenge."
And if Stanton can answer the challenge, the team can get headed back in the right direction. As much as last year's Northwestern game lingers with them, the Spartans know they have a season in front of them that still has bowl-game potential. The only time Stanton has played in a bowl game was as a redshirt freshman in 2003. He was injured on special teams in that game and didn't see any action as quarterback. So for him, a win Saturday would be more than retribution. It would put MSU one step closer to its first bowl game with him at the helm.
"All we need to focus on now is getting a win, getting back to .500 and being one step closer to being able to go to a bowl game at the end of the season," Stanton said.
But as much as the Spartans might like to, it'll be tough to ignore the 2005 loss once Saturday's game starts. Both years, the Spartans entered the game as favorites after losing their previous two games to Michigan and Ohio State. Last year's game was MSU's Homecoming; this year's game is Northwestern's Homecoming.
Junior running back Jehuu Caulcrick said a win Saturday would finally help close the wound of last year's loss.
"They came in here and put a whooping on us," Caulcrick said. "It was our Homecoming game, and now we're going there on their Homecoming game. We'd like to spoil their party."
Steve Highfield can be reached at highfie4@msu.edu.
