The Next Level

First off, I would like to commend the Michigan State Spartan football team on going 3-1 during the month of October. For those who don't know, they went to Ohio State and got a dominant 10-7 winhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB37zS_y8n8. Next, they manhandled the Michigan Wolverines 28-14http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD-BgLk_fKs. Following that, Wisconsin came to town for Homecoming, which ended with a "hail mary", and a 37-31 upset over the sixth-ranked Badgershttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPI366xTxnA. The game I want to focus on though is the last one against Nebraska, a game that the Spartans lost 24-3 and looked horrible doing sohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiYLzEwG16Y.

As a Spartan fan, that game was very frustrating for me to watch. I acknowledge the fact that it has to be hard to get emotionally high as you need to be four weeks in a row. Also, coming off of that draining win against the Badgers, you had to know there was going to be a letdown. However, to not show up and get bullied for four quarters is not acceptable.

I definitely feel that Michigan State is headed the right direction with the football program. Anyone who can't see that is blind as Stevie Wonder walking in a dark room. With that said, it is time for the program to go to the next level. Michigan State has only lost four games in the last two seasons. That is generally a good thing, but those four losses have all come in spotlight games on the road and neutral sites. They have also been games that the Spartans looked overmatched, confused, and subjugated in. To be considered an elite program you have to win those types of games on the road and on neutral sites. At minimum, you need to put up a fight and lose a close game. To go to the next level though, "moral victory" needs to not be in a programs vocabulary.

Michigan State is right there. They have proven to not be the "same old Spartans", by coming back to win games, playing through mistakes and penalties, and handling teams that they are supposed to. Now, they need to start winning games like they had in Lincoln, Nebraska last weekend. That was a prime opportunity to show they know how to handle success, and move past a big win. Instead they went out there and played four quarters of deer in headlights football.

The rest of the season offers two more road games, that I feel they should win easily. To be a program that goes to the next level, they have to beat Iowa and Northwestern on the road, win the Big 10 Championship game(if they get there), and win their bowl game. Is that asking a lot? Yes it is, however I feel the talent is there for them to do so. They just need to execute and play with the same intensity on the road as they do at home. It is time to prove on the field that they are ready to become an elite level program. Or else, I'll have to reluctantly join in with the people who are in the corner screaming "same old Spartans".

I'm Jimmy L. Wilson, Jr. and I approve this message.