COLUMBUS, Ohio – When you’ve had a taste of what it’s like to exist in Ohio State’s world, it’s hard to accept being a clone of Iowa again. That’s what Michigan State’s football program is going through right now.

The Buckeyes made the gap painfully clear with a 34-10 throat punch Saturday night. This wasn’t an example of unfortunate timing. This was the best squad MSU has assembled in four years against an Ohio State team with its usual advantages and then some, but nothing out of the ordinary for the Buckeyes. Nothing in a different stratosphere than Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde or J.T. Barrett and Ezekiel Elliott. MSU used to be able to handle this. Mark Dantonio used to be Urban Meyer’s nemesis.

Deep down, I think MSU’s players know what’s what. They were firmly in denial Saturday night, though.

Deep down, I think MSU’s fans know they should appreciate toggling between 7-5 and 9-3, while rising up every few years with a shot at something more. They’re struggling to see the joy in that right now. That’s the only problem with a 36-5 three-year run. It’s hard to sustain if you don’t recruit like the other programs who go 36-5. But once you’ve done it, that’s the standard.

MSU is never going to recruit like 36-5 under Dantonio. It tried once, the infamous 2016 class, featuring 10 four-stars prospects, of whom only defensive tackle Naquan Jones remains. That class should be anchoring this roster. Joe Bachie and Mike Panasiuk are. They were quintessential Dantonio finds – three-star kids who’ve developed beyond their recruiting profile.

The 2016 class is one of two bits of bad luck for the program. The other: MSU’s best team arrived a year before the College Football Playoff. Players on that 2013 squad insist they would have beaten the Florida State team that won the final BCS national championship. Imagine what a national title might have done to change MSU’s image as a program, what doors it might’ve unlocked. Things have to go damn near perfectly to win yourself into a different echelon and not look back.

Instead, six years later, MSU finds itself here – outclassed in Columbus, the disparity in recruiting ratings as fierce as ever, the Spartan players finding that notion hard to digest.

“They’re very athletic. Probably the most dynamic backfield in the Big Ten, to be realistic,” MSU senior linebacker Joe Bachie said. “(But) they did nothing special today. We just shot ourselves in the foot.”

Bachie lamented his error on J.K. Dobbins’ 67-yard touchdown run to put Ohio State up 24-10 late in the second quarter. He filled the wrong gap, while everyone else played it correctly. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever fit up an inside zone wrong,” he said. So yes, this was partly self-inflicted. The thing is, if Bachie makes that mistake against Indiana or Northwestern, it’s a 20-yard gain. No real harm done.

“We didn’t execute, we didn’t trust ourselves and we didn’t trust our defense and we got beat,” senior defensive tackle Raequan Williams said.

At some point Williams will realize it was less “we” than “they.” The reason the Spartans didn’t trust themselves and their defensive scheme was entirely caused by the speed, size and oomph of the opponent, primarily Dobbins and Buckeyes’ QB Justin Fields, and exacerbated by difficult circumstances early.

MSU’s defense wore down in the second quarter after it was twice asked to bail out the offense following fumbles on the second plays of MSU’s first two drives. MSU allowed 16 total yards on 16 plays in the first quarter. The Spartans allowed 296 on 24 plays in the second quarter, losing the battle to be both sound and aggressive against a relentless quick-strike offense.

“Yeah, I don’t know what it was,” Bachie said, trying to explain the fatigue. “Just a little bit out of breath there. We’re in good shape. I don’t know what it was, though.”

“It” was Ohio State.

Bachie, and most competitors and athletes of his caliber, would rather come across as oddly confused by the obvious than admit an opponent is just faster or stronger or, God forbid, better.

MSU’s offense had spurts of effectiveness, too, including five drives that went at least eight plays or 75 yards. Quarterback Brian Lewerke threw for 218 yards and a touchdown. Elijah Collins averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Darrell Stewart had six catches, including a score.

Lewerke also overthrew one potential touchdown pass. Collins fumbled an option pitch from Lewerke. And Stewart dropped a key third down catch that was right in his hands.

“We’re going to get back in the lab and we’re going to draw some things up,” Stewart said. “We’re going to get back in the lab and we’re going to fix it.”

There's nothing in that lab that can bring MSU’s offensive talent to Ohio State’s level. Stewart is having a heckuva season, leading the Big Ten in receptions (41) and receiving yards (624). He’s a fringe NFL guy. He played a determined and physical game Saturday.

Lewerke is on pace to throw for 3,000 yards and more than 20 touchdowns. Collins might give MSU its first 1,000-yard rusher since Jeremy Langford. This is a good offense now, with good pieces. It’s just not an explosive offense.

There have been eras of Spartan football when MSU had more juice in its offensive personnel. Andre Rison, T.J. Duckett, Plaxico Burress, Charles Rogers – these guys could walk into the Horseshoe in Columbus and stand out among standouts. MSU doesn’t have that dude on the offensive side of the ball.

Defensively, it’s closer to matching up, though the drop off at the second cornerback position and the inability to impose its will against the run right now stood out Saturday. That said, MSU gave up 273 yards rushing in the 2013 Big Ten championship game, which it won by double digits. Ohio State’s passing game did nothing that day. And MSU outgained the Buckeyes 438 yards to 374 and 23 first downs to 20. The Spartans truly went toe-to-toe with an unbeaten Ohio State team that was on its way to the national title game, until that night.

On this night, Ohio State nearly doubled up the Spartans with 529 yards to 285. That feels about right, because Ohio State is probably about twice as good. That might be the case for the Buckeyes with the rest of the Big Ten, too.

This was not a bad loss for MSU. It was a loss soaked in reality.

I’ll likely pick MSU to beat Wisconsin next week. I think that’s a decent matchup for the Spartans, and a program with similar talent. Penn State two weeks later might be more imposing than the Badgers.

“If we want to make a great bowl game, if we want to make a good run here, it starts with Wisconsin,” Bachie said, refreshingly avoiding the old company line, “All our goals are still in front of us.” They aren’t.

“We’re halfway through, we’re a 4-2 football team and at the end of the day, that’s what we are,” Dantonio said. “We’re 4-2 and we’ll be defined by what we do next.”

They’ll also be defined by what they couldn’t do Saturday. They couldn’t beat Ohio State. They can’t be Ohio State. Most of the college football world isn’t Ohio State. Most programs have never felt what it’s like to walk in the Buckeyes’ shoes, to sniff the playoff, to play for a Big Ten championship three times in five years. Once you’ve been there, accepting something less as exciting is a tough pill, made worse by the needless exclusivity of the four-team playoff, which is shoved in our faces ad nauseam as the barometer for program worth.

With a highly anticipated MSU basketball season around the corner, fans might check out on football. In hoops, MSU is Ohio State.

This MSU football season, though, is far from done being interesting. It could break anywhere from 10-2 to 7-5. There was a time when the difference between those two records meant just about everything.

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Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.