Just as MSU came screaming and yelling through a once-vaunted Michigan team in Ann Arbor, the Spartans tripped and fell on a day where most sporting events will be forgotten, losing 49-7 to a previously winless Iowa.

“We trust the process that we have, we have to go back to East Lansing, we have to watch the film,” MSU head coach Mel Tucker said after the loss.

Practice, and well, probably the trip back to East Lansing for the Spartans, won’t be anything too fun either. This game was less than impressive for MSU, it just was a downright loss in all three phases, just like Tucker said himself.

“Totally unacceptable in terms of our performance," Tucker said. "Our standard is higher, much higher than what we’ve shown. What we’re gonna do is we’re gonna go back and we're going to take a hard look at every single play."

That look becomes a little bit more important after the sequel to the win over the biggest rival in your first attempt as head coach premieres this way.

“They came out and they set the tone at the line of scrimmage,” Tucker said, on an Iowa team who rushed for 226 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. “So, I didn’t see any indications from a letdown standpoint, you have to give them credit. They came out and they won the battle in the trenches.”

Iowa always makes it that type of game. I just thought that against a team and roster that would be considered not as talented as U of M, that the Spartans had that advantage. 

“They started fast,” Tucker said. “I give them credit for that.”

It seemed the offensive line that allowed so much time for the quarterback that was coming into his own against Michigan was closer to roadkill than Thanksgiving dinner. Blitzes and pressure from everywhere came down on MSU’s Rocky Lombardi, who looked like a completely different player Saturday with the absence of a deep passing attack.

“At the end of the day we just gotta learn from it,” Lombardi said. “That’s one of their strengths as a defense, is taking the deep pass, they do a good job of that. But also, that wasn’t really part of our gameplan, we knew they were strong in that category so we were trying to attack them underneath and do what we could do there. It’s just about taking what the defense gives you and against Iowa they’re not gonna give you too many deep shots.”

The Spartans only connected on two deep passes, both to Jailen Nailor, who had four catches for 119 yards - probably one of the few bright spots for MSU.

It echoed what was said after seven turnovers against Rutgers, MSU responded well to that loss the following weekend. 

But now, that win’s look has changed as the No. 23 Wolverines fell to No. 13 Indiana on Saturday.

A rollercoaster of a game and season already, for a lot of reasons

Iowa’s run game ran through, around and right into the teeth of an MSU front-seven that was banged up.

Last week, MSU managed to put pressure on Joe Milton all game, then it struggled with Iowa's O-Line, who dominated the trenches.

Star linebacker Antjuan Simmons was taken out of the game early and played sparingly through the rest of the contest. A week after he had the game of his life, saved a touchdown with a fingertip in an impressive win, he was absent, along with starting corner Chris Jackson.

“I just couldn’t go out there and be as productive as I have been in the past,” Simmons said, who didn’t mention any injury. “But that's no excuse, when I was out there I played hard, when Chase (Kline) went out there he played hard. Whoever was out there played hard. I personally didn’t feel like there was anything being missed of me out there … we got three and outs, we still made plays.”

Simmons was missed, whether he acknowledged it or not. He’s a natural leader and will always have his teammates back, an admirable trait. 

But Iowa was firing on all cylinders, I’m not sure it could’ve made a difference. 

"They executed their game plan," Simmons said. "They had a response, especially in the first half they had a good response, to pretty much everything we were doing."

The last two weeks have sent fans, maybe all of us, on the roller coaster ride that is college football today. I was shocked by today’s game in many ways. But in 2020, anything can happen, right? I guess I should’ve gotten a palm reading too.

A pick-six and 54-yard punt return touchdown made the game go from 21-7 to 35 in a flash. That’s on other sides of the ball, not the Spartan defense.

Still, 49 points against a team that scored 40 in its first two games is a problem. I’m not sure a palmist could’ve said that was in this team’s future - not after last weekend.

“I think it's a good learning experience for our whole team, I hate to have that rookie moment today, especially coming home,” Lombardi, from Clive, Iowa, said. “But at the end of the day I’m gonna learn from it and get better.”

A week after playing perfect, the freshman receiver Ricky White that had 196 yards in one game had 22, Lombardi, who came in tied for the most passing touchdowns in the Big Ten, had zero. 

Switching roles

Iowa was up 14-0 on Northwestern halfway through the first quarter, then fell apart. 

MSU won the biggest game of its season and followed it up with this.

Talk about flipping the script. 

These people aren’t actors, they are football players. But MSU played the role of doormat Saturday, which isn’t necessarily something that Iowa is accustomed to and not MSU either. 

Previously, MSU had won three straight over the Hawkeyes, the last meeting was in 2017 - a 17-10 win for MSU. 

It's about focusing on the next opponent. I saw the game in Ann Arbor, this team is capable of playing at a higher level. But in this season, the only thing we might know is that anything can happen. 

So for MSU, No. 13 Indiana is up next at home. 

“We just gotta work,” Simmons said about preparing for a matchup against what could likely AP top-15 Indiana team. “There’s nothing else we can do, its not like, Coach Tucks gonna throw in a new practice schedule or we’re gonna have a new lifting program, or the training room is gonna be different. Nothing’s gonna change from last week to this week, the practices are gonna be the same … everything’s gonna be the same.”

“Except the mentality,” he said.

That’s what will need to happen next Saturday, because otherwise? Get ready for another roller coaster ride.