What’s different about these Spartans? It starts with the players

EAST LANSING Aidan Chiles climbed into the stands to dance in the student section.

Nick Marsh sprinted to find his mom.

Jordan Hall cried.Related ArticlesMichigan drops eight spots in AP Top 25 after loss to OklahomaMSU notes: Give me the ball: Nick Marshs demand provides spark in comeback winUnderwood struggles against Oklahoma but Michigan teammates arent concernedChiles throws for career-high 4 TDs to lift Michigan State over Boston CollegeJohn Mateer has 2 TDs rushing, 1 passing as No.

18 Oklahoma beats No.

15 Michigan 24-13Michigan State players let their emotions out after a 42-40 double overtime win over Boston College on Saturday night.

After choking away these close games throughout last season, the Spartans had finally turned pushback into a comeback.

Resilience into relief.That was a beautiful football game, coach Jonathan Smith said.It wasnt a pretty game by any means.

The Spartans ceded 390 passing yards, more than half on chunk plays.

The offense spun its wheels at times, especially early.

Missed assignments, poor ball security, even penalties threatened to derail this game.Why didnt it? The answer starts with the players.This group wants it more, Chiles said.

I mean, we have player-led team meetings where we talk about how much we want it, what we need to do to win these games and to succeed this season.All offseason, Michigan State (2-0) ran back the tape of last years pain and suffering.

It showed too many losses painful ones that came from blown leads or failed halftime adjustments.

Against Michigan.

Against Boston College.

Against Rutgers.

This Michigan State team vowed to be different from the moment last season ended.

Proving it was a different story.Just one game into this season, the seeds of doubt started to sprout.

Second-half struggles against Western Michigan showed many of the same flaws as last season, evoking that here we go again feeling from outside the locker room.

And when Boston College (1-1) took a 21-14 lead into halftime, fans at Spartan Stadium felt that all-too-familiar game slipping away in front of them.Thats part of the reason this game meant so much to the players.

Never before had an MSU team in the Jonathan Smith era outscored a Power Four opponent in the second half.

Nine times since he got here, the Spartans choked these kinds of games away.

Even at Boston College just a year ago.Last year, they ended our little three-game win streak, Marsh said.

So it was real personal.

I feel like that was kind of the downfall of our season last year.Thered be no downfall this time.

Players wouldnt let it.

Even through injuries, like the leg injury that took Malik Spencer out most of the first half, or the injury to Hall that left him limping through a performance that ended with 15 tackles.Chiles, knocked to the ground on a number of plays, took a third-down hit on the last throw of the second half, laying on the field in pain only to return to win the game through the air and through his legs.The Spartans paid a price to win this game.

It only made the payoff sweeter.I got a little emotional after the game, just given that the three years that Ive been here, those are the games that we let slip away, Hall said.

And that sigh of relief ...

that this was finally one that we got our hands on it wasnt perfect, but we were able to get it done.Thats part of the reason why players erupted so much for the win.

Theyd finally bucked a trend that had knocked this program into a dormant lull.

Theyd woken the ceiling that can make this team competitive in one of college footballs toughest conferences.

Theyd shown hope that this season can reach those lofty offseason goals.Now, the task becomes doing it again.

Saturdays win may have felt like an exorcism, but the Spartans cant let those old demons come back and terrorize them.Theres going to be a bunch of games that are competitive like this, Smith said.

We know what kind of conference were playing in.But Saturdays win is a good start for Michigan State, the kind of triumph that builds confidence among players and belief among locker rooms.

If the Spartans can harness that momentum, maybe that postgame elation can become more routine.I think it definitely shows the growth that weve taken in just a year, Hall said.

...

Everybodys been bought into that and mature into that idea of doing whatever it takes to win football games...

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