MSU’s bowl position hinges on whether No. 10 Ohio State (10-2, 7-1) receives a Bowl Championship Series at-large bid.

The Buckeyes’ fate, in turn, hinges on whether No. 17 Oregon State wins its final game, which would make the Beavers champions of the Pac-10 and likely push No. 5 Southern Cal into the final BCS at-large slot.

Regardless of how the BCS horse race finishes, the Spartans expect to build upon Saturday’s experience in Florida, likely against a Southeastern Conference foe.
“It’s a disappointing loss to lose like this,” senior quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “But if anything, we’ll be prepared to go out and redeem ourselves in a January bowl game.”

Not yet elite

This season, MSU was favored heading into nine games and emerged victorious in all nine.
But against elite teams that oddsmakers predicted to knock off the Spartans, MSU struggled to prove it deserved a spot on the national stage.

Against Ohio State and Penn State, the Big Ten’s two superior squads, MSU had its two worst showings of the season, losing by a combined score of 94-25.

In each game, the performance gap was as large, if not larger, than the final tally indicated and the Spartans dug themselves into large halftime holes.

“(When) the stakes have been high here, we get very excited to play, we’re very focused, we work hard to get ready to play the entire week,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “There’s confidence there, but we just can’t seem to catch on fire and play ourselves back into a football game.”

Dantonio said a solution to Saturday’s beating was to continue to coach players, recruit strong talent and play with the same intensity MSU has shown all season. Although no MSU player who spoke after Saturday’s game was thrilled with the outcome, some recognized that the experience of playing elite teams will benefit the Spartans down the road.

“That’s something that I’m sure we’ll emphasize for next year and this upcoming offseason,” junior free safety Danny Fortener said of his team’s execution against top teams.

“It’s the things that they did and not what we didn’t do. We’ve just got to make big plays and they made more than we did.”

Trench struggles

On a cold day when heaving a spiral can be difficult, MSU knew it was important to establish a running game and then balance it out through the air.

Yet the MSU front five weren’t able to win at the point of attack against a set of quick Penn State defensive ends and two strong tackles in the middle.

As a result, the Spartans were held to 35 total rushing yards and Hoyer was under pressure in a consistently collapsing pocket all day. He was sacked three times and completed 25-of-40 passes for 206 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

“Their (defensive) ends were really rushing wide and fast, and that really forces you to step up in the pocket,” Hoyer said.

“Sometimes you step up and there are guys on the insides that are getting pressure, too.”
Although Ringer tied the school record for touchdowns in a season Saturday with his 21st scamper for six in the second quarter, he was never able to break loose from the Penn State front seven. Ringer tallied 42 yards on 17 carries and never had a run of more than nine yards.

“Their defensive line played pretty good against our offensive line today,” Ringer said.
“You cannot have a running game unless your offensive line establishes dominance up front. Period.”