Dantonio: 'Things Happen Good For You If You Win The Next Game'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - The Michigan State Spartans suffered a crushing loss Saturday, one that likely eliminated them from consideration for the four-team playoff. Head coach Mark Dantonio did not minimize the emotional impact of the defeat, which came at the hands of fellow Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State.
"When you have big high hopes, when you have aspirations, there's going to be big disappointment," Dantonio said. "When you've reached and climbed a mountain, and you can't climb that next mountain, there's going to be bigger disappointment. The higher you go, the bigger disappointment I think that there's going to be.
"I knew we had a great opportunity and that we let that opportunity slip by us," Dantonio added. "That doesn't mean that we're not going to have another great opportunity this year. It just means that that opportunity went by us and that we've got to create another one for ourselves."
It appears that Michigan State's playoff dreams have been dashed, but Dantonio did not concede that fact. The Spartans now have two losses on their record - both by considerable margins - but both defeats came at the hands of one-loss opponents listed in the Top 10 of the college football playoff rankings.
Missteps by any team farther up the rankings could theoretically allow the Spartans back in the race for the playoff. Dantonio plans to have the team in position to benefit if another team should falter down the stretch.
"Things happen good for you if you win the next game," Dantonio said. "Just look what's going on down the road in Columbus now. You win the next game, things are going very well for them all of a sudden. Five weeks ago, not so good. So things change ... That's competition at the highest level.
"We've been in the conversation now for nine weeks, 10 weeks," Dantonio added. "I don't want anybody to feel bad for us. We're still in the Top 20. Just win. Just win, baby."
Thanks to Saturday's loss, Michigan State will likely drop several spots in the college football playoff rankings, which will be updated Tuesday evening. Sitting in the top four slots going into last weekend were Mississippi State, Florida State, Oregon - one of the teams to whom the Spartans have lost - and Auburn.
"We've got a lot to play for here," Dantonio said. "The season is not done yet. You just don't know what can happen because there's a lot of parity in college football today, but even beyond that, we've got a lot to play for, and our hopes are to be a power six football team in terms of playing in one of those games."
