The Spartans couldn’t have been much higher heading into the game with No. 15 Iowa (6-2, 3-1). MSU was undefeated, winning its first eight games of the season for the first time in 44 years. And as the only Big Ten team without a loss, the then-No. 5 Spartans were in the driver’s seat to win an outright conference championship.

The Hawkeyes, who suffered a heartbreaking home loss to Wisconsin the previous week, were the toughest remaining test on the schedule for MSU.

Taking a 30-0 lead into halftime before winning 37-6, Iowa proved to be the most difficult test of the season, forcing a hard fall back down to earth for the Spartans.

It wasn’t as dramatic as the last second touchdown pass to win the game last season, but for a previously unbeaten MSU team, it stings just as badly.

“Guys are, right now, very frustrated and upset,” senior linebacker Greg Jones said. “We just have to stay together.”

Any hopes of playing for a national championship — something that was becoming a possibility in recent weeks — are gone.

It’s possible the Hawkeyes did the Spartans a favor, exposing them as not a true national contender before it happened on a bigger stage.

But as head coach Mark Dantonio pointed out following the game, MSU’s season is far from over, and there still is plenty for the Spartans to play for in the final three games.

“We still have a lot of great opportunities in front of us,” Dantonio said. “We are still an 8-1 football team, and we have to recognize that.”

The chances MSU sits alone atop the Big Ten standings at season’s end are slim, but the Spartans are as likely as any team to share a conference championship.

Four teams — including MSU — now have one conference loss, and of those teams, the Spartans might have the most favorable remaining schedule. With two home games against struggling Minnesota and Purdue, and a trip to Happy Valley to play a down Penn State team in the final four weeks, all is not lost for the Green and White.

Dantonio said the fact MSU still controls its own destiny was the first thing he told his team after the game.

One loss doesn’t ruin a season, and in a year when the Big Ten race is wide open, it also doesn’t end the Spartans’ hopes of accomplishing their goal of a conference championship. And with a little help, even a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 20 years isn’t out of the question.

“We lost one,” junior quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “I don’t think there’s anything that needs to be said. We’ll just learn from this and grow from it.”

Throughout the entire season, players and coaches have emphasized the one-game-at-a-time mentality. Along with that, Dantonio and others have talked about not getting too high on themselves after a win.

Now, MSU will have to learn how to not get too down after a loss.

For a team that few expected to be a legitimate title contender at the beginning of the season, there is no reason for the Spartans to dwell on the negative with so much positive to look back on and forward to.

In the coming weeks, we likely will learn more about this year’s team and the direction of the program than we did in the first eight victories.
“The beauty of playing football needs to be that when you get knocked down, you get back up,” Dantonio said.

Fortunately for Dantonio, it appears his players have taken his postgame message to heart.

“We’ve been down before,” sophomore defensive tackle Jerel Worthy said. “We’re going to work our butts off this week. Minnesota better watch out.”

Much like Worthy said, adversity is not new to MSU, as the Spartans have had to fight from behind in games and continue on after their head coach suffered a heart attack and missed two games. This type of adversity, though, is foreign territory for the 2010 MSU football team.

But depending on how they handle it and respond, the Spartans still could be celebrating a Big Ten championship on Nov. 27 — possibly with roses in hand.

Jeremy Warnemuende is a State News football reporter. He can be reached at warnemu3@msu.edu.