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"Spartan Seniors Have Helped Usher In A New Era" -- Detroit Free Press - Sun 11/9/08
November 8, 2008
Seniors have laid foundation
BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
EAST LANSING — Wait till next year? Forget that. For Michigan State, next year will come this season. Literally.
The Spartans are heading to a January bowl for the first time since Jan. 1, 2000. You remember the highlights of that glorious day: The world did not come to end, Michigan State beat Florida in Orlando, and the Spartans were on track to be a Big Ten power despite having no apparent head coach.
Nine seasons later, the Spartans are back among the Big Ten’s elite. And this time, they look like they might stick around. Michigan State beat Purdue, 21-7, in a delightfully boring game. Perhaps you prefer the term “methodical.” Or “taking care of business.”
I’ll stick with “delightfully boring,” thanks. Michigan State sucked the drama out of the proceedings, which is what good teams do.
Heck, the Spartans didn’t even get all that emotional about senior day. College seniors are supposed to ponder What It All Means, and you would think this two-year journey from 4-8 to 9-2 would be cause for introspection. But as senior quarterback Brian Hoyer said, senior day was not a big deal precisely because of how far they have come.
“It wasn’t as emotional as in years past, because we know there’s something else to play for,” Hoyer said.
That “something else” will be a Big Ten championship in two weeks, when MSU visits Penn State. In the meantime, the Spartans get two weeks to heal and prepare, and the rest of us get two weeks to appreciate how far this program has come, no matter how the season ends.
Not too long ago, the players had to wonder if being a Spartan was worth it. They put in as much time and effort as the players at USC and Texas. Their bruises are just as purple; their bones break just as often. Yet they received an inordinate amount of grief.
“I remember when our coaches got fired, there were some trying times there,” Hoyer said. “Some people were like, ‘I don’t even know if I’m going to go to practice today.' "
That was the middle of the 2006 season, when John L. Smith was axed. Life has gotten so much better, at least on fall Saturdays. But for Hoyer, winning has not really quieted the critics. As receiver Blair White said, “everybody dogs him a little bit.”
Hoyer is used to it by now.
“I would think people would judge a quarterback by his record,” Hoyer said. “I would hope so. I can sit here and say I didn’t play that well today. But I don’t really care because we’re 9-2. I didn’t play my best game, but I don’t really care....
“Next year when Keith Nichol or Kirk Cousins walks into that stadium, and they throw their first interception, somebody is going to be criticizing them. That’s just the way it is.”
If nothing else, MSU fans should appreciate Hoyer for helping his team shed its Same Old Spartans skin. This Michigan State team has kept its poise as well as any team in the Big Ten. That starts with coach Mark Dantonio, but the quarterback gets some credit, too.
“I’m sure people question going into this game: ‘Is it going to be the same old Spartans? I’m sure they’re going to have a lapse again,' " Hoyer said. “I’m really sick of hearing that. We’re 9-2 now. We’ve won in several different fashions. I don’t know why people keep saying that. It hasn’t been that way since Coach Dantonio got here.”
Same Old Spartans? Well, defensive lineman Trevor Anderson admitted he was thinking about Penn State this week … but not on game day.
And Anderson acknowledged that he thought about MSU history this season, but mostly because the Spartans were defying it. Former Spartan Cliff Ryan called Anderson after the MSU beat Michigan, just to say two words.
“He said ‘Thank you,' " Anderson said. “Because he never got a chance to beat Michigan.”
So where do the Spartans go from here? Happy Valley, obviously, and then Florida or Pasadena. But then what? Javon Ringer will move on to the NFL. Hoyer will graduate. They will leave knowing they put together the best MSU season in at least nine seasonsyears, maybe longer.
And then they will hope somebody eclipses them.
“The play of a group of seniors can elevate the program,” Dantonio said. And for Hoyer, Ringer and the rest of this group of seniors, that would be the biggest victory of all.
Seniors have laid foundation
BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
EAST LANSING — Wait till next year? Forget that. For Michigan State, next year will come this season. Literally.
The Spartans are heading to a January bowl for the first time since Jan. 1, 2000. You remember the highlights of that glorious day: The world did not come to end, Michigan State beat Florida in Orlando, and the Spartans were on track to be a Big Ten power despite having no apparent head coach.
Nine seasons later, the Spartans are back among the Big Ten’s elite. And this time, they look like they might stick around. Michigan State beat Purdue, 21-7, in a delightfully boring game. Perhaps you prefer the term “methodical.” Or “taking care of business.”
I’ll stick with “delightfully boring,” thanks. Michigan State sucked the drama out of the proceedings, which is what good teams do.
Heck, the Spartans didn’t even get all that emotional about senior day. College seniors are supposed to ponder What It All Means, and you would think this two-year journey from 4-8 to 9-2 would be cause for introspection. But as senior quarterback Brian Hoyer said, senior day was not a big deal precisely because of how far they have come.
“It wasn’t as emotional as in years past, because we know there’s something else to play for,” Hoyer said.
That “something else” will be a Big Ten championship in two weeks, when MSU visits Penn State. In the meantime, the Spartans get two weeks to heal and prepare, and the rest of us get two weeks to appreciate how far this program has come, no matter how the season ends.
Not too long ago, the players had to wonder if being a Spartan was worth it. They put in as much time and effort as the players at USC and Texas. Their bruises are just as purple; their bones break just as often. Yet they received an inordinate amount of grief.
“I remember when our coaches got fired, there were some trying times there,” Hoyer said. “Some people were like, ‘I don’t even know if I’m going to go to practice today.' "
That was the middle of the 2006 season, when John L. Smith was axed. Life has gotten so much better, at least on fall Saturdays. But for Hoyer, winning has not really quieted the critics. As receiver Blair White said, “everybody dogs him a little bit.”
Hoyer is used to it by now.
“I would think people would judge a quarterback by his record,” Hoyer said. “I would hope so. I can sit here and say I didn’t play that well today. But I don’t really care because we’re 9-2. I didn’t play my best game, but I don’t really care....
“Next year when Keith Nichol or Kirk Cousins walks into that stadium, and they throw their first interception, somebody is going to be criticizing them. That’s just the way it is.”
If nothing else, MSU fans should appreciate Hoyer for helping his team shed its Same Old Spartans skin. This Michigan State team has kept its poise as well as any team in the Big Ten. That starts with coach Mark Dantonio, but the quarterback gets some credit, too.
“I’m sure people question going into this game: ‘Is it going to be the same old Spartans? I’m sure they’re going to have a lapse again,' " Hoyer said. “I’m really sick of hearing that. We’re 9-2 now. We’ve won in several different fashions. I don’t know why people keep saying that. It hasn’t been that way since Coach Dantonio got here.”
Same Old Spartans? Well, defensive lineman Trevor Anderson admitted he was thinking about Penn State this week … but not on game day.
And Anderson acknowledged that he thought about MSU history this season, but mostly because the Spartans were defying it. Former Spartan Cliff Ryan called Anderson after the MSU beat Michigan, just to say two words.
“He said ‘Thank you,' " Anderson said. “Because he never got a chance to beat Michigan.”
So where do the Spartans go from here? Happy Valley, obviously, and then Florida or Pasadena. But then what? Javon Ringer will move on to the NFL. Hoyer will graduate. They will leave knowing they put together the best MSU season in at least nine seasonsyears, maybe longer.
And then they will hope somebody eclipses them.
“The play of a group of seniors can elevate the program,” Dantonio said. And for Hoyer, Ringer and the rest of this group of seniors, that would be the biggest victory of all.
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