After all, even after starting the last few years undefeated through our “cupcake” games, we were all just waiting for that one moment. We were waiting for the overtime loss to Michigan, or the second-half collapse to Notre Dame. It was just one moment away from all coming down.

And MSU fans have a right to be skeptical. The season started out the same, with two wins under our belt, however, Spartan football ended with a 4-8 record.

But on Saturday, something happened that reaffirmed a sense of hope in the hearts of MSU fans. As Oregon paraded up and down Michigan Stadium, and national television cameras panned over the faces of the U-M crowd as they watched the historic loss, something familiar crossed the screen.

It was a look that may have seemed foreign to the people in the stadium but was known all too well in East Lansing. It was the same “not again” look that washed over so many faces in Spartan Stadium last year. It was that look of abandonment fans get when they realize their team has given up.

Yet, it was different. The U-M fans didn’t actually show their faces. They turned their backs on their team not only figuratively but literally. They turned around and refused to recognize the team that brought the school so much national praise.

But MSU fans are much more resilient than that. We would have to be if we cheer for a team that has historically let us down.

For some reason, we fill the stadium to the brim every year. We have some twisted vision that every year, despite some obvious shortcomings, this is the year that something big will happen. This is the year that we topple the perennial juggernaut an hour away.

This is the year we surprise all the critics and become the team to beat in the Big Ten. This is the year that, finally, we don’t have that one moment that breaks all of our hearts and sends the team into a tailspin.

Maybe this is that year.

We have some obvious shortcomings. Brian Hoyer seemed to forget halfway through the game which color jerseys his team was wearing. Our bend-but-don’t-break defense seemed poised to give the whole crowd a heart attack.

Yet it’s the little things that make it seem as if we have a chance. Again, our team limited the penalties. Again, our defense shut down the running game and forced our opponent to be a one-dimensional team. Again, our young receiving corps shined and gave the Spartans faithful hope for a sparkling offense despite major losses in the offseason.

Perhaps most of all, for the first time in a while, we saw a team that didn’t give up once the other team took the momentum.

Maybe this is the time something magical happens in East Lansing. Maybe this is the year we’re not left asking ourselves “Who’s ready for basketball season?”