The Spartans’ 30-10 win over Central Michigan Saturday was unsettling even though the team finished strong.
The Chippewas exposed holes in the MSU secondary, passing for 285 yards, and held the ball for 31:45 compared to the Spartans’ 28:15. Then there is the injury bug, which bit again, as junior tackle Jack Conklin and junior tight end Josiah Price both left the game and did not return.
Head coach Mark Dantonio declined to comment on the longevity of the players injuries.
But beyond the injuries, the way MSU has been forced to grind games out this season has been another thing. The No. 2 ranking is repeatedly dangled in the Spartans’ faces — it demands perfection.
Not that MSU isn’t used to it, but defeating four schools by an average margin of 12.5 points would not have been so heavily scrutinized two seasons ago.
To Dantonio, the margins of victory this season are irrelevant in context of the team’s success. He did acknowledge that opponents are taking note of the ranking.
“I still feel like we’ve not played our best football game and part of that is because when (everybody) comes to Spartan Stadium or to play Michigan State at this point, we are going to get everybody’s best shot,” Dantonio said after the game on Saturday.
And in what sounded like Dantonio’s attempt to remind critics that blowouts don’t matter, he mentioned a certain national championship team he helped coach — the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes.
“I was on a football team in 2002 where we won eight games by less than a touchdown, couldn’t care who we were playing,” Dantonio said.
The 2002 Buckeyes actually won seven games by a touchdown or less.
A reminder that of all the team’s troubles, finishing football games with a victory is the Spartans’ only worry.
“I mean, we know what kind of players we have and the caliber of talent we have and we’ve been in situations like this before, we’ve played in big games, especially the senior class, I mean we are all about finishing,” senior quarterback Connor Cook said.
The Spartans scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and held Central Michigan scoreless on just 44 total yards.
Through the first three quarters, MSU led just 17-10.
Junior linebacker Riley Bullough said he too is focused on simply finishing games, despite the heavy pressure to blow teams out.
“We just need to match that intensity each week, which is tough, I mean it is hard week in and week out but it’s a thing as a number two ranked team that you need to do, we understand that, it is something we are going to preach to our team and just continue to get better,” Bullough said.
The Purdue Boilermakers (1-3) will visit East Lansing next Saturday for the Spartans’ homecoming game at noon.
