“For Coach Dantonio, it’s a special event simply because he’s now — in his tenure here — beaten every team in the Big Ten, and I think that’s a special accomplishment,” senior quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “(It) goes to show the program he’s built.”

With 24 Spartans — along with Dantonio — being from Ohio, the victory also was uniquely special for them, as many had friends and family in attendance.

MSU hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 1999 — since 1998 in Columbus — and since the Spartans don’t compete against the Buckeyes on a consistent basis, players were even more excited about the road win. The Spartans also lost in their last meeting in 2008 at Spartan Stadium, 45-7.

“We haven’t had the opportunity to play Ohio State in a couple years, and they got the better half of us the last time we played them,” sophomore linebacker Max Bullough said.

“Now, coming our here, we kind of get our redemption at their place, and that’s huge for us, that’s huge for our team, and I think it’s huge for Spartans all across the board.”

Looking at where MSU’s football program is headed, Dantonio had a very simple answer to what he thinks the conference win means to him and for MSU.

“There were three Big Ten Champs last year,” Dantonio said. “And we beat Wisconsin, and we beat Ohio State, so there’s one (statement).”

Taking advantage
MSU knew it had at least one advantage headed into Saturday’s game: it was up against a true freshman quarterback in Braxton Miller.

Although senior safety Trenton Robinson said Miller — who completed five-of-10 passes for 56 yards with one interception and four sacks — will improve with age, he saw what kind of toll MSU’s defense was taking on him.

“I love (going) against a young quarterback — we all do,” Robinson said. “You start bringing all that pressure at them, and their eyes get huge, and you see what happens.”

The Spartans’ defense came away with a big victory, and Robinson credited it to MSU exploiting all of Ohio State’s weaknesses and properly timing its execution.

MSU ran down Miller so much that by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, quarterback Joe Bauserman had to step in, but the Spartans managed to maintain control of the game with inexperienced quarterbacks.

“Both quarterbacks can throw, but Braxton Miller is a pretty elusive guy and really explosive, so we had to make sure we (kept) containing,” sophomore linebacker William Gholston said. “Even though we got the pressure, we really had to get in his face so he couldn’t get a pass off.”

‘Play of the game’
The game could have had an entirely different outcome had redshirt freshman punter Mike Sadler followed through with what looked like a costly mistake in the first quarter.

Punting after MSU’s first drive, the ball hardly made it into Sadler’s hands before slipping out of reach. For what Dantonio called the “play of the game” because of its potential impact, Sadler regained control and successfully punted.

“It shows great poise for a redshirt freshman to be able to scramble back there and understand that he can’t just fall on the ball,” Dantonio said. “He’s got to pick it up and try and get it off, and he got a great roll.”