It was Dinah Washington who popularized the song “What a Difference a Day Makes” in 1959. It was linebacker Adam Decker who made a key 4th-down stop in the last quarter Saturday (10-4-08) to preserve a 16-13 victory over Iowa.
Decker’s decisive tackle of bruising tailback Shonn Greene on a 4th-and-1 from the Spartan 21-yard line gave Michigan State its 5th straight victory, and ultimately pushed the Spartans into the AP Top 25 Poll with a 5-1 record.
I could not hear Decker’s tackle in Michigan watching the game on the tube from Washington in the Great Pacific Northwest, but my spirit could. I thought immediately of the legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne who said, “It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle. You can hear it.”
Decker’s tackle may well turn out to be the most important defensive stop at Michigan State since the Spartan football program last rose to national prominence in 1999, going 9-2 under Nick Saban and earning a trip to the 2000 Florida Citrus Bowl where they beat Florida 37-34.
Decker is a 6-foot-2, 238-pound junior who played at Brother Rice, a Catholic high school in Rochester Hills (MI). Decker and his fellow “S Troops” did not just talk the talk Saturday but walked the walk as they stepped up and made stop after stop when it counted and the game was on the line. My nomination for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week is the entire Michigan State defensive team led by Adam Decker.
While coach Mark Dantonio is far from a deity, he has slowly but surely begun to change the culture of Michigan State football to one of belief and closing out games to win. Gone is the “it’s all about me” mentality. Now it is “we are one”.
What exactly are you talking about? I thought you would never ask. I am talking about how the Spartans have folded like a cheap K-Mart deck chair during the 4 years prior to Mark Dantonio’s arrival last year, replacing John L. Smith.
Under Smith, Michigan State started the 2003 season at 7-1 and finished 1-3. In 2004, the Spartans started at 4-3 and finished at 1-5. In 2005, they started at 4-0 and finished at 1-6. In 2006, they started at 3-0 and finished at 1-8.
When totaled, Smith started these 4 seasons at 18-4 and finished at 4-22. Case closed.
Now let’s see if we can discern a difference in how Mark Dantonio’s first season last year went. Dantonio started at 2-4 (new coach, new system, new competence) and finished at 5-2. Do I detect some progress here? How could I not. This year Dantonio’s Spartans lost their first game and have now strung together 5 straight victories.
I cannot underestimate the importance of Mark Dantonio to the Michigan State football program.
At the halfway point in the season, most sane pundits (especially University of Michigan and Ohio State supporters) would argue that Michigan State could lose its next 6 games against 5-0 Northwestern, 5-1 Ohio State, 2-3 Michigan, 3-3 Wisconsin, 2-3 Purdue and 6-0 Penn State. Yes, they could. Anything is possible in college football, which is why college football is more exciting than pro football.
But what if the culture Mark Dantonio has been preaching doesn’t just arrive but sticks in the minds of the Spartans? Is it beyond reality to think that the Spartans could be 6-1 when they face Ohio State at home in 2 weeks? To do so, Michigan State must travel to unbeaten Northwestern and win this Saturday (10-11-08).
Let’s let Dantonio and the Spartans decide what happens.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Read my other Spartan articles on Michigan State football, including:
“Michigan State Got the Message in an Away Game: Just Win, Baby, Just Win”
“Michigan State and Javon Ringer Deliver a Rush to Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish, 23-7”
“Michigan State’s Javon Ringer After 3 Games – 498 Yards Rushing and 9 TDs”
“Michigan State’s Javon Ringe ทางเข้า ufabet Scores Five Times in 42-10 Victory Over Eastern Michigan”