The Spartans blew yet another opportunity to take a huge step forward Saturday night, losing a heartbreaker to No. 7 Iowa in the final play of the game.

It might have not been a step forward, but it wasn’t a step back.

The Spartans played with passion, fed off of the home crowd’s energy and came within one play of taking control of the Big Ten. But with Iowa’s winning touchdown, the entire complexion of the football season changed.

Had the Spartans won, they would have had a real chance of going to their first Rose Bowl in more than 20 years. Instead, they most likely need to win at least three of their final four games to finish 7-5 and just make a bowl appearance.

There have been two staples of the Mark Dantonio era thus far. First, the Spartans lose big games in heartbreaking fashion. Second, they bounce back from them.

The Spartans are 1-7 against Top 25 opponents under Dantonio, with four of those losses by four points or fewer.

Following a heartbreaking loss to Michigan in 2007, the Spartans were able to win their final two games to finish at 7-5 and make a bowl game for the first time since 2003.

In 2008, following a tough loss at California to open the season, the team rattled off six consecutive victories. After a blowout loss in a highly anticipated matchup against Ohio State, the team rebounded to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor for the first time in 18 years.

And this year, following three close losses early in the season, the team responded by winning three straight, including a 26-20 victory against U-M, the Spartans’ first win against a Top 25 team under Dantonio.

Before Saturday’s game against Iowa, Dantonio said he tells his players to enjoy the big games because they will remember them forever.

This week, he’s going to have to make his players forget the Iowa loss and move on as the Spartans travel to Minneapolis to take on a 4-4 Minnesota team also fighting to make a bowl game.

The Spartans still have the ability to make this season a success. Their next three games — at Minnesota, against Western Michigan and at Purdue — are winnable. The Spartans’ offense is solid, especially with sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins making encouraging throws game after game. And the defense is one of the best in the Big Ten, as many predicted before the season.

“There’s not a football team that we cannot beat on our schedule,” Dantonio said. “At the same time, we have to come ready to play because there’s not one that, if we just roll our helmet out there, that we won’t get beat by.”

If the Spartans are able to make a bowl game — even if it is the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl — they’ll take an important step in building a foundation for Dantonio’s program. The last time the Spartans made three straight bowl games was from 1995-97, and they’ve only done it one other time in program history (1987-90).

Although the Spartans lost Saturday’s game, they proved once again they can compete with any team in the Big Ten.

As it was early in the season, leadership will be key if the Spartans are to rebound. Following the early season losses, the great leadership helped the team rally. That leadership will be just as important now if the Spartans are to make a bowl game.

“I can’t look back, I have to look forward and our football team has to look forward and that’s what our players will do,” Dantonio said. “We have great senior leadership, we have solid people leading our football team and that allows us to do those things.”