Four years later, Dell — now a senior receiver for the MSU football team — will get the chance to play at Ford Field again this Saturday when the Spartans travel there to take on Florida Atlantic.

But this time, he hopes he can find out what it’s like to walk out of the stadium with a win.

“It didn’t go too well,” Dell said of the 2006 state championship game. “I know what it feels like to leave there with a sour taste in my mouth after a loss, and I don’t want to do it again.”

Dell is one of 27 players on the MSU football team from the Detroit area looking forward to returning home for Saturday’s game.

But unlike Dell, a number of them will be making their first appearance at Ford Field.

Freshman defensive end William Gholston played his high school football at Southeastern High School and Mumford High School — both in Detroit — and although he was one of the best players in the state, he never made it to the state championship and Ford Field.

“When you’re in little league, you know when you get to high school, you get a chance to play for a state championship there,” Gholston said. “Then when you’re in high school, that’s the dream. It’s the dream for every student in Michigan.”

The matchup between the Spartans and the Owls originally was supposed to be the first game at Florida Atlantic’s new stadium, Innovation Village. But when it was clear the stadium would not be completed in time for the 2010 season, the game was moved to Ford Field.

Although unfortunate for the Owls and their program, Dell, Gholston and the rest of the Detroit natives on the MSU football team couldn’t be happier to be part of the first Spartans football team to play in Detroit since 1944.

“I’m very excited,” Dell said. “I yelled it out right after the game on Saturday, I was just excited to finally go home.”

Home on the road

Florida Atlantic will travel about 1,300 miles for the game at Ford Field, compared to just 90 miles for MSU.

But when the two teams take the field Saturday, the Spartans will be listed as the away team.

“It’s an away game,” MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said. “It’s a foreign stadium that we’re playing in, wearing white uniforms. There’s a lot of things they’re in control of as the home team.”

The Owls are collecting the revenue from tickets and as the home team also are selecting the referees, which will be from the Sun Belt Conference, Dantonio said.

But in nearly every other aspect, it will feel like a home game for Dantonio and MSU.

“There’s going to be more Spartans there than would probably make the trip to Florida, so that’s a positive,” Dantonio said. “I think another thing is down time, the travel back and the rest back is going to be a home game more than an away game.”

One more advantage for MSU probably will mostly affect the younger players on the team.

As the first road game of the season, it will be the first game away from Spartan Stadium for the Spartans’ freshmen and other players who have yet to play an away game in college.

“I think it’s a good way to kind of ease into it,” Dell said. “It’s an away game, but it’s kind of a home game so to speak, so I think it will be a good experience.”

Gholston — a true freshman — also sees the game as a chance to get adjusted to playing away from East Lansing.

“I think it will be a good transition for me,” Gholston said. “This is my first away game so I feel like it will be pretty good for me to be able to go into a friendly atmosphere and still have the away game feel.”

Family matters

For those 27 members of the MSU football team from the Detroit area, the game at Ford Field will be about more than gaining experience in a new stadium.

When Dell and the Spartans travel to Detroit on Saturday, he said the most important thing for him will be having his family and friends in attendance who can’t make the trip to East Lansing for every home game.

“They’ve been hitting me up for tickets since they found out it was on the schedule,” Dell said, laughing. “It’s going to be fun, going back and playing in front of my family. It’s about a five-minute drive for them, so it should be good.”

Even with more eyes focused on him, Dell said he doesn’t think he’ll feel any added pressure in front of the hometown crowd.

However, sophomore linebacker and Detroit Renaissance High School graduate Chris Norman said he might have some extra butterflies Saturday, which he plans on using to his advantage.

“I do feel a little pressure, but they say pressure makes dominance,” Norman said. “I’m going to be a little nervous, which is natural, but it’s going to be a good thing, I’m going to make sure this is one of my best games I’ve ever played.”