After almost three weeks since the Spartans’ loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, the No. 12 team (10-3) has put the loss in the past and is determined to finish the season on a high note.
At his weekly press conference Tuesday, head coach Mark Dantonio said in addition to the couple weeks leading up to 2012, the Spartans have had the whole season to develop together and prepare for No. 18 Georgia (10-3) at the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 in Tampa, Fla.
The Spartans — individually and as a group — have had several first time or first time since accomplishments under Dantonio, but they have not won a bowl game since the 2001-02 season.
“The one thing that has escaped us thus far is winning our bowl game,” Dantonio said at his press conference, according to the athletics department. “That’s something that we’ve got to be able to rectify and to make sure that we’re able to do that and continue to work toward that.”
Like Dantonio, players also are ready for a bowl win — particularly after being dominated by Alabama last time around in the Capital One Bowl.
With just five losses in the last two seasons, the 49-7 loss to Alabama still has left a sour taste in the Spartans’ mouths, and senior safety Trenton Robinson said it’s always in the back of his mind and never wanting to play in a game like that is part of his motivation to win against the Bulldogs.
“It’ll be good for us to go up against an SEC school and win,” Robinson said, according to the athletics department. “It’s just going to be good; it makes the program look better, and we go out on a win because everybody thinks the SEC is better than the Big Ten.”
Dantonio said with a Big Ten Championship being the program’s top goal, the No. 2 goal is to win the final game of the season, and with MSU keeping pace with Georgia — as both teams have top five defenses — winning isn’t out of reach.
In a game that Dantonio called a fairly even matchup, a win for MSU also would send the seniors — the winningest class in program history — out on a great note and could make up for the conference championship loss while starting the 2012 year in a positive way.
“I believe this program is ready for a bowl win,” senior quarterback Kirk Cousins said, according to the athletics department. “We’ve played great opponents every year, ad this year is no different.
“We as a senior class want to leave with a win. You don’t want to be in the locker room as your last game ever in a Spartan uniform with a loss. You want to be in that locker room celebrating a win the last time you ever play for Michigan State.”
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