It didn't exactly work out how they wanted it to.

"They dumped out the coolers before we could."

Whether Dantonio was responsible for that remains to be seen. He smiled and vehemently denied those accusations when asked by a reporter. But, his response on whether or not he knew the water jugs may be coming is a different story.

“I was ready for that," Dantonio said smiling. "I was watching. I wasn’t going to get watered on.” 

Fair enough. We'll chalk this one up to secrecy and leave it at that.

What isn't a secret is where Dantonio now stands on the ranks of Michigan State football coaches — right at the top. Dantonio passed Duffy Daugherty for the most wins in program history by a head coach after the Spartans (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) opened conference season with a 31-10 win at Northwestern.

The Spartans finally put things together on both sides of the ball. Michigan State's offense racked up 337 yards, as Lewerke threw for three touchdowns — two to Matt Seybert and one to Cody White, while Elijah Collins added one on the ground. The Spartan defense continued its stifling ways, giving up only 265 yards of offense, forced three turnovers and didn't give up a touchdown until the final three minutes of the game.

Dantonio didn't say when he knew the record was going to happen Saturday afternoon. It did, however, eventually set in.

"I knew that sooner or later that maybe it will come," Dantonio said. "To be honest with you, I'm just focused on winning the football game. Those things that come with that, 110, I think those are things that you sit back at a later time and say, 'OK, did this, did that.' It's not an individual thing. It's just so many people working towards it.” 

Pretty typical Dantonio answer. But, the smile across his face every time he was asked about the win revealed more emotion about the afternoon.

"You can’t get there without players, guys," Dantonio said. "You can’t get there without coaches. You can’t get there without past players and current players. This is a very special group of players that we have. I really believe that. That can translate into wins and losses ... But, its a special group of people, and I do think you win with chemistry. You always have a chance with chemistry.” 

Even though Dantonio didn't want to dwell on it, his players did all the talking for him. Some of them were mad that the Spartans couldn't get the job done at home last week against Arizona State. Finally getting the win gives them a little sense of relief.

“I was thinking about that all week," Michigan State linebacker Tyriq Thompson said. "It's a really good feeling to be on a team that is apart of Coach D. breaking that record and his legacy. It's definitely something we will be able to look back on 20 years down the road and be proud of.” 

Dantonio said his family met him in the locker room to begin the celebrating, where players on the team smiled and gave their congratulations. He said his wife, Becky, was on sideline patrol while his brother, John, made and passed out hats commemorating the win.

And that there may be some more celebrating later tonight "when he finds his people."

So, on a game like today, where the Spartans did so much right offensively — and defensively — the players can be mad about their celebration debacle.

And water jugs or not, Mark Dantonio still stands as Michigan State's winningest football coach.