When a team puts in five months of dedicated practices, sacrificed countless hours for strength and weight training, succeeded in triumph after triumph and spent nearly a month studying film on an opponent, the only additional thing the players can do on game day is believe.
Believing helped the execution of a fourth-and-three fake field goal that gave a 5-foot-8 wide receiver the ball and a first down. Believing put a little more force behind a successful 50-yard field goal attempt. Believing made a 44-yard Hail Mary seem possible.
And believing increased the likelihood a team can recover from a 16-point deficit at halftime, tie the game with less than 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter and block an opponent’s fourth-and-14 field goal in triple overtime.
“If you want it, you’ve got to take it back — keep believing,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “Just believe.”
I have one pet peeve: the “It’s over” type comments that come in the second quarter when one team appears to be running away with the game. If there’s one thing Dantonio proved this season — as he’s done so many times before in his five-year tenure — it’s that the game is never over until the clock reads zero.
It definitely wasn’t easy, but the Spartans believed they could do it against Georgia at the Outback Bowl. They’ve come from behind to win so many times before it would be hard not to believe they’d at least make a try for it.
Dantonio believed MSU’s playbook was strong enough to support a comeback, and his strategic approach to the second half allowed him to outcoach Georgia head coach Mark Richt.
Kirk Cousins believed he could throw quick bullets and downfield bombs, while B.J. Cunningham believed he could connect with his quarterback just one last time.
And as the energy from Spartan fans electrified Raymond James Stadium while MSU gained control of the game, it was clear Spartan Nation believed its team could end the season on a well-deserved high note.
It’s thrilling, heart-stopping games like this that make the 47,000 students and hundreds of thousands of alumni so proud to call themselves Spartans and don green and white with a smile.
Dantonio and the senior class have restored Spartan Nation’s faith in the football team’s potential, and with students and alumni standing behind the Spartans, it’s no wonder they believed they could take back the bowl game and come out with a win.
January 2nd’s game in Tampa Bay, Fla. might not have been the location and opponent MSU and its fans had hoped for heading into the Big Ten Championship game, but going out with a win was a goal everyone was looking to accomplish.
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