In the final minutes of the game, MSU’s offense has a chance to run out the clock. They go three and out.

MSU’s defense finds itself needing to come up with a big stop to win the game. It doesn’t.

And now, after falling 12-10 to in-state rival No. 23 Michigan for the first time since 2007, the Spartans fall to 4-4 overall with a 1-3 mark in the Big Ten.

Head coach Mark Dantonio is fond of reminding us football is a game of inches. MSU’s three most recent losses — against No. 8 Ohio State, Iowa and now Michigan — have come by less than six total points.

“It’s tough because you feel bad because you know that you are very, very close to having three wins,” Dantonio said. “But it is what it is, and sometimes you have to look at that and deal with it. This is one of the years that we have to do that, right now at this point in time. So ‘shoulda coulda’ does not really get it. We just have to play through it and in the end, this needs to make us stronger — I truly believe that.”

By that standard, MSU should be Popeye right about now. The Spartans keep getting fed their spinach diet of tough loss after tough loss all season. Probably tastes about as well as spinach too.

But instead, Spartan fans see before them an underachieving team. The team that once was a favorite to win the Big Ten and head to Pasadena for a Jan. 1 bowl game now finds itself counting the wins to make it to bowl game eligibility.

All because of six points.

For Conroy, those six points must loom like a dark cloud over his head. In two of those three losses, Conroy missed a field goal that would have been the difference maker.

Those losses must weigh on junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell as well. An interception in overtime against Iowa ended the game for MSU, and an interception Saturday in Michigan territory ended a drive that could have put points on the board.

For junior linebacker Max Bullough, those losses must feel like the weight of the world. In those three games, the defense was unable to come up with a big stop when it was most needed.

But Dantonio was hesitant to put Saturday’s loss on any one player or play.

“You can find a lot of plays,” he said. “And we’ll find one in the second quarter, we’ll find one in the first quarter, we’ll find a block, we’ll find a tackle we’ll find a (blown) coverage or something.”

There were 127 plays in the loss against Michigan. Maybe a handful made the difference. But that’s the way this season has gone for the Spartans. A play here, a play there, and MSU stays the front-runner for a Big Ten title.

But those plays weren’t made. Those inches weren’t gained. And those points weren’t scored.

Once again, the Spartans came up short. The Rose Bowl stays just out of reach.

If MSU wants to save face at all this season, they’ll have to find their way out of this “Groundhog Day-esque” infinite loop.

Because those inches, those points, those losses — all add up. And now, it’s too late to subtract.

Jesse O’Brien is a State News football reporter. He can be reached at obrie151@msu.edu.