Well the Spartans certainly played far better on Saturday, despite being tripped up in a 17-16 tough loss to Ohio State.  Anytime you play the Buckeyes, you're in for a great game.  OSU's Braxton Miller is the real deal, he made it tough on a Spartan defense that held the Buckeye offense in check and out of the end zone for much of the game.

What cost MSU the game was Johnny Adams' blown coverage, giving up a 63-yard passing TD, and the defenses' inability to stop OSU and get the ball back in the final 4-minutes.  Give the Buckeyes credit, they earned the win in a game of two very different teams who were fairly evenly matched.  The biggest disappointment was the Spartan offensive line, which didn't find holes for LeVeon Bell and allowed Andrew Maxwell to be battered.   A VERY NICE SURPRISE to see the Spartan receivers finally catch the ball.  Yes, this team is improving, but it was a tough loss.

A note about the call by the refs that stopped MSU from scoring a wide open TD on the fumble recovery...  Well, we still could have scored the TD, if the offense had put it in the end zone; instead, we settled for a FG off that turnover.  Sure, the refs blew it, but MSU did have its chance to put score a TD anyways, and failed to do so.  You gotta take advantage of the turnovers and overcome adversity.  We didn't.

If MSU wants a nice bowl, or the Rose Bowl, it can't lose the rest of the year.  Improvements are still needed, particularly on the O-Line.

As for this upcoming week, the opening line out of Wynn Casino in Vegas has MSU as a 15-point favorite at Indiana. Indiana gave up - get this - 394 rushing yards to Northwestern.  The ES figures we can expect a real heavy dose of LeVeon Bell on Saturday. Penn State is favored by 4 at home over #24/#22 Northwestern. Wisconsin is favored by 14 at home over Illinois. Michigan is favored by 3 at Purdue. #12 Ohio State is favored at home by 4-1/2 over #21/#20 Nebraska.

And, predictably the Spartans fell out of the AP Top 25, but are on the door knocking to get back in.  The two losses -- to Notre Dame and to Ohio State -- were to quality opponents with the Spartans also beating Boise State.

AP Top 25
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Alabama (60)	5-0	1500
2	Oregon	5-0	1430
3	Florida State	5-0	1349
4	LSU	5-0	1310
5	Georgia	5-0	1252
6	South Carolina	5-0	1152
7	Kansas State	4-0	1123
8	West Virginia	4-0	1066
9	Notre Dame	4-0	1043
10	Florida	4-0	937
11	Texas	4-0	932
12	Ohio State	5-0	793
13	USC	3-1	703
14	Oregon State	3-0	647
15	Clemson	4-1	608
15	TCU	4-0	608
17	Oklahoma	2-1	581
18	Stanford	3-1	509
19	Louisville	5-0	404
20	Mississippi State	4-0	306
21	Nebraska	4-1	240
22	Rutgers	4-0	160
23	Washington	3-1	159
24	Northwestern	5-0	143
25	UCLA	4-1	122

• Dropped from rankings: Michigan State 20, Boise State 24, Baylor 25

• Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 72, Boise State 53, Texas A&M 51, Michigan State 43, Texas Tech 39, Michigan 38, Louisiana Tech 37, Baylor 31, Ohio 30, Arizona State 15, Arizona 4, Miami (FL) 4, Iowa State 3, Tennessee 3