“They just made more plays than us,” junior quarterback Connor Cook said. “There were opportunities for offense, especially for me ... and I needed to grasp them.”

Cook finished the game 29-47 for 343 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a tipped pass to junior receiver A.J. Troup in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously this is a big time opponent in a big time environment ... but I don’t see it as a setback,” Cook said. “It’ll make us hungrier, make us work harder and we’re going to keep getting better.”

A Tale of Two Halves

MSU scored 24 of its points in the second quarter to head into the locker room at Autzen Stadium with a halftime lead. The Spartans scored only three points for the rest of the game, and Oregon ran up 28 consecutive points to close out the second half.

“There was an ebb and flow to this game, I think Oregon came out fast and we countered that,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “Things are going to happen. We’ll take the week and learn from this experience.”

No matter what half, junior quarterback and Heisman trophy candidate Marcus Mariota was an explosive force that gashed MSU for 318 yards.

“A lot of it was miscommunication,” senior safety Kurtis Drummond said. “We practiced hard this week, but a lot of it was miscommunication and missed alignment.”

Junior defensive end Shilique Calhoun said containing Mariota was the hardest part about playing Oregon.

“He’s definitely a good quarterback,” he said. “We didn’t do a good job containing him (and tackling him).”

Lots of Football Left

Many experts thought that this game would be used as a measuring stick for which team would earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. Although MSU fell, the players and coaches both believe one game does not make a season.

“Our main goal at Michigan State is to win the Big Ten championship,” Cook said. “If we can do that everything else will fall into place.”

MSU has a bye next week before hosting Eastern Michigan (1-1 overall) on Sept. 20. Players and coaches said they will use the bye week to prepare for the Eagles and learn from mistakes made against the Ducks.

“We’ve been here before, it’s a long season,” Drummond said. “Guys still understand what we are trying to accomplish this year. We have a bye week next week so we’ll be able to regroup, focus and learn from it.”

“It’s a disappointing loss, but it’s something we will learn from,” senior offensive lineman Travis Jackson said. “We will definitely bounce back from this.”

Dantonio said the program is still strong, despite losing to Oregon.

“Our program is in good shape, we’re not going to fall away,” he said. “We have to regain momentum. This is a time for growth.”

Senior wide receiver Tony Lippett led both teams in receptions and yards, grabbing 11 passes for 133 yards and one touchdown. He also stressed the importance of the team not getting down after only two games.

“We’re trying to preach to the locker room telling guys to keep their head up,” he said. “It’s only game two and game two doesn’t make a season.”

Over the summer, ESPN analysts David Pollack and Jesse Palmer said in a media teleconference if MSU lost on the road to Oregon and won out for the rest of their season, they would still be alive for one of the final four spots.

The Week Ahead

MSU is off next week, so Dantonio said the week will be used to prepare for Eastern Michigan and to assess what went wrong against Oregon.

“We just have to regroup and move forward,” Dantonio said. “I felt like, coming out here, there had to be gains either way. ... You have to be able to go on the road and beat a good team, that’s how you grow.”

Dantonio said the big games that were given up in the secondary were a product of miscommunication between players, echoing Drummond’s early statement.

MSU had their own offensive success, managing to accumulate over 450 yards of total offense. For the second consecutive game, no MSU player had more than 100 yards rushing.

“They did a good job defending certain things,” he said. “They didn’t turn the ball over and we turned it over twice, that’s not how you beat a team like Oregon.”

Dantonio said this year’s loss reminds him a little bit of last season’s loss to Notre Dame. That loss predated a long and successful run to the Rose Bowl.

“It’s hard to say (if this loss and the Notre Dame loss are the same),” he said. “It’s hard because we haven’t seen the film yet.”

Leaders and Legends

MSU highlighted a slate of Big Ten teams that struggled against out of conference opponents.

Along with the MSU loss, Michigan lost to Notre Dame, Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech and Purdue lost to Central Michigan.

Some announcers in the media have said they don’t think the Big Ten champion will go to the playoff.

Dantonio said he can’t control the system, so he remains focused on not worrying about it.

“I can’t control any of that,” he said. “I know we’ve got a tough schedule, and 10 games left so we’ll play this thing out.”

“We have a good football team,” Dantonio said. “I think we have resilient players, guys with character and good team chemistry. We’re going to be upset about certain things, and we’re going to get through those things.”