Chris Solari

Lansing State Journal

The game clock on Spartan Stadium's scoreboard flickered to zeros. It was 12:08 a.m. After 3 hours and 54 minutes of football in the cold and rain, Michigan State's players and coaches could exhale.

If only for a moment.

A full week of preparation led to a 27-22 victory over Nebraska. Celebrations were tempered, both by the late hour and frustrating finish.

And, also, because it was time to start it all over again.

Heading into his 100th game at MSU today against Indiana, coach Mark Dantonio continues to preach about the currency of consistency. It permeates his messages to his team and fans, it remains a hallmark of his staff and it shows with the product on the field almost every game.

And it all starts with the routine that occurs from the end whistle on Saturdays to the kickoff the following week.

SUNDAY, OCT. 5

Quarterback Connor Cook dropped to one knee, and a near meltdown had been averted as late Saturday night bled into early Sunday morning.

The RVs and tailgaters had long since disappeared, many before halftime. Players and their families ventured away from Spartan Stadium with their breaths visible in the 42-degree chill. Only scribes on a deadline and cleaning crews in a similar hurry remain in the stadium.

Assistant coach Mark Staten, however, already has returned to work in his office at the Duffy Daugherty Football Building. Grades for his offensive linemen's performances need to get finished before the team returns Sunday night. With about a half-dozen players to review, it takes a few hours to get done.

"One of our (graduate assistants), Steve Gardiner, comes up and goes, 'Hey, coach!' " Staten said. "It was 4:30, and I had fallen asleep with the remote in my hand."

Such is the life of an assistant coach. Sleep, like time spent basking in a victory, is fleeting.

Staten goes home for a nap, wakes up a few hours later to finish reviewing video and spends some time with his family before heading back to campus. Other coaches are back in their offices well before 2 p.m. as players trickle into the training room. Offensive players lift weights while the defense held its meeting, and then they switch. All of the Spartans reconvene to review special teams video at 7 p.m., then go to their training table at Case Hall after the 30-minute full-team session.

Less than 24 hours earlier, they were gathering in the locker room to play Nebraska. That's a long time ago in a fast-paced football fall. Purdue week already has begun.

"It gets to you," Staten said. "I was saying to Zac Hueter, 'Man, I need some mojo.' He said, 'Midseason blahs — sometimes that happens.' "

MONDAY, OCT. 6

It's more or less an off day from football for the Spartans, but not from academics.

The start of a new week reverts super-human athletes back to their mild-manner student form. Some of them, like Cook or Shilique Calhoun, can't escape the attention and adulation. Many, like defensive end Marcus Rush, enjoy being able to slip by undetected.

The only team obligations for players on Mondays are to meet with their academic advisers. And for a three-time Academic All-American like Mike Sadler, it's also an important day to continue working toward his master's degree in public policy.

"Mondays are great days for me, because you can focus only on school," the fifth-year senior punter said. "You can get ahead on work that needs to be done, kind of figure out what your week is gonna be like.

"Mondays are probably the most relaxing days. Mondays are like our weekends."

Still, football never leaves the brain. Players have iPads to study film clips and pour over notes they got Sunday on their own or with their teammates. Heading into practice uninformed could put someone behind for playing time.

"It's taking your mind off of the game that's passed already. We gotta focus on Purdue," linebacker Ed Davis said. "That's the hardest part — getting back focused, learning a new game plan, getting new keys, making sure you stay on those keys and not Nebraska's keys and staying focused on your next opponent."

But what about when classmates want to talk about that last game?

"I don't think a lot of people know who I am," Davis sheepishly admitted with a laugh, "so I don't have that attention yet. Not me. Maybe somebody else."

TUESDAY, OCT. 7

Mark Dantonio and his players are in high demand. And Tuesdays are their primary time to answer questions.

First up, at 11:30 a.m. each week, Dantonio meets with local and state-wide reporters gathered in the new Tom & Lupe Izzo Media Center. They pick Dantonio's brain about what happened the previous week, what the eighth-year coach expects from his next opponent — this week, it's Purdue — and often (without much success) injuries. This day, Dantonio breaks form and discusses senior Mylan Hicks' broken arm.

Quickly, it's on to the Big Ten teleconference, another weekly obligation. That begins promptly at 12:32 p.m. He goes into what it takes to play on the road, which MSU has only done once until this week.

"At one point during our time here in the last seven years, we started winning football games at home," Dantonio said. "Then it became necessary to win football games away. ... We just try and accept it as a challenge. And in a lot of ways, it helps us become even more focused, I think, when we go away."

Media get to watch only about 15 minutes of practice around 4 p.m., basically warmup drills, stretching and some rudimentary work on offense and defense. It's their lone chance to see the team between games. The rest is done behind closed doors.

Afterward, it's the players' turn to speak to reporters. Much of the talk, like it did earlier in the day with Dantonio, revolves around the fourth-quarter fizzle against Nebraska.

"After we watched film," Cook said, "we know what we're capable of and stuff that we can correct."

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8

No screaming fans, no TV broadcasts, no hype. Just the sounds of whistles and pads and yelling, often over loud music meant to simulate what's to come inside a noisy stadium.

The business of becoming a better football team often is built on Wednesdays, under the watchful eyes of coaches and even more unrelenting scrutiny of video cameras perched high above the practice fields.

The previous day was spent learning the Boilermakers' systems and tendencies. Flaws from Tuesday's practice are examined and corrected, a fine-tuning of what the Spartans can do to come out with a peak performance at Purdue. It's also a day when new wrinkles can be added to what they've done up to this point within their own game

plan.

"It's that time in the week when you're going the fastest," senior Rush said. "Thursday's a little bit slower, kind of a fast-paced walk-through. Tuesday is more high-tempo, you're really just learning Purdue's offense right now. Wednesday's more of an adjustment — what you did Tuesday, you have to fix Wednesday and clean everything up. Those are the two practices that are most important."

Plus, it's the one day a week when players can go full-tilt, a padded practice with plenty of hitting. It's the type of grunt work that's needed to chase perfection on Saturdays. And it's the alone time, well out of the spotlight, that has helped Dantonio and his staff win 68 of their first 98 games with MSU.

"I think Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the farthest days from Saturday," junior Cook said. "So that gives us an opportunity to go hard, to get sore, to do a little hitting here and there so we're not sore for Saturday."

THURSDAY, OCT. 9

Practice ends, and Dantonio needs to hustle. His weekly radio show starts at 7 p.m. and is broadcast across the state via radio and the rest of the globe via the internet.

An hour before he arrives at Reno's East, however, his loyal crowd already has gathered. They're sporting every type of Spartan wear imaginable — golf shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, hats and jerseys. If you aren't wearing something green and white, you stand out in this packed house.

"I just think the relationship and the good feeling between everyone here, it's just a nice place to be," said "Mr. Spartan" Duane Vernon, one of the program's biggest fans and alumni. "We're all Spartan fans. And we're friends. It's lots of fun."

While they're enjoying dinner and drinks, the show's namesake has yet to arrive. No one worries, though. They've all been here before and have implicit faith in Dantonio.

Two minutes before going live, heads turn — the coach has arrived. He strides through the room as fans rise to their feet, giving a standing ovation and snapping pictures as he walks.

For the next hour, with the show piped through the bar's TVs, Dantonio regales those in the building and the listening audience outside with analysis of the Nebraska game and expectations for Purdue. It's part chalk-talk, part lesson in the psychology of football, part variety show. Laughs and applause are intermittent as he interviews players Davis and Jack Conklin, who joined him on the stage. Dantonio's schedule is so tight that he covers his salad and nibbles at it during commercial breaks.

It all wraps up at 8 p.m., but Dantonio stays and chats with fans for a few minutes. He signs a few more autographs and poses for some photos. About 10 minutes later, he slips out the back door for his car.

A business trip to Indiana awaits.

FRIDAY, OCT. 10

All the equipment is gone, loaded onto trucks after Thursday's practice. Meticulous itineraries are in hand. Travel day starts, however, with a 5:50 a.m. Iron Man Lift inside the team weight room.

So begins the final preparation for Saturday's game at Purdue. After brunch and team check-in at Skandalaris Center, final film breakdown takes place at 9:55 a.m. Players make one last walk-through and load busses for the airport at 11:05, a 15-minute drive. The charter flight to West Lafayette, Ind., departs Capital City Airport at noon.

"What you generally try to do is try to keep everything consistent," receivers coach Terrence Samuel said. "If we need to travel, we travel early. So then by the time we get to the site, we're on the same normal schedule."

And that schedule is hyper-regimented. MSU's flight arrives at 1 p.m., and the Spartans are at Ross-Ade Stadium for another hour-long walk-through by 1:30. This one, though, is more light-hearted — receivers play a walking game of catch, offensive linemen and quarterbacks run pass patterns, linebackers play hot potato.

"We just sort of have a good time," Dantonio said, "and it's just about being kids and having fun with football. It loosens them up. We don't take things too seriously all the time."

After returning to the team hotel and enjoying some down time, players and coaches get together for dinner at 5:30. A 40-minute video review is followed by a different movie each week. This time, it's "The Other Guys," with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Fifth-year senior Connor Kruse, the fourth game-day captain this week, picked it. He also gets to address the full team afterward.

"Being able to get up in front of the team and be honored the way they honored me, as a captain, I'm getting goosebumps right now," Kruse said. "It touched me deep. It was awesome, and I think I pumped up the team decently enough."

At 10:30, it's off to bed and the lights go out. When they come on again, the frivolity of Friday will be gone, replaced by the serious Saturday mission: Beating Purdue.

SATURDAY, OCT. 11

Mike Sadler and the special teams units are the first on the field on Saturdays, so 3:30 p.m. starts like Purdue are his most enjoyable. That goes for his teammates as well. A later wake-up call always helps.

"You get to sleep in a little bit — you sleep until 9, you wake up refreshed," he said. "And then the next thing you know, you're going to meetings, having meetings and on the bus going to the stadium. We usually like 3:30 games, and those usually work out really well for us."

Today includes a 15-minute walk-through at 9:50, followed by a 25-minute meeting with each position group. At 10:30, players can either go rest in their rooms or begin getting taped up for the game. An optional chapel session, held by assistant coach Harlon Barnett this week, starts in the hotel at 11:40. The pregame meal, today lunch with the later start, is at noon, and is followed by another short unit meeting at 12:45. Busses roll out shortly thereafter, arriving at Ross-Ade Stadium at 1:30.

Fifteen minutes later, the Spartans roll onto the field for 15 minutes of warmups. Sadler and the other kickers return first at 2:34, followed by the quarterbacks, centers and long snappers.

At the 8-yard line, radio men George Blaha and Jason Strayhorn pick up last-minute intel from offensive coordinator Dave Warner. Near the end zone, Staten chats with umpire Mike Pilarski. At 2:47, the specialists join the group.

Ten minutes later, Kruse once again fires up the team, standing directly in front of his fellow Spartans. He gives them a three-breakdown chant before they all dash to midfield.

"That was awesome. I'm at a loss for words," he said. "To see everybody's eyes on me, knowing they respected me from coming from a walk-on all the way to now, leading this team in a sense, having their eyes on me, just gave me chills and motivated me to want to play as best as I could in the game."

At 3:19, the team jogs off the field and back to the locker room. Dantonio lags slightly behind them, gathering his staff at the goal line. They put their hands together, give a quick chant, and stride off to give final instructions.

When they all return, it once again will be time to start it all over again. Game 99 will begin with the opening kickoff at 3:42 p.m. The nation will be watching to see what the Spartans' week worth of work will bring.

***

Three hours and 28 minutes later, it's a familiar ending. Cook once again takes a knee to wind down the clock, everyone breathing a sigh of relief that another fourth-quarter fade ends in another MSU victory.

It's cathartic. Cook fires his wrist bands into the crowd as he runs toward the tiny Purdue visiting locker room. Behind closed doors, players and coaches roll through a quick, muted version of the fight song. They get changed and stuff their equipment and uniforms into their green travel bags, then bring them to the truck that will cart it all back to East Lansing.

Dantonio answers more questions about another near collapse, quick to remind reporters that the win is all that matters. He leaves the lectern and is greeted by his daughters in the back of the cramped room with hugs and kisses.

Linebacker Darien Harris' late interception return for a touchdown sealed the win. His insight is a treasured commodity as daylight disappears, and he goes from interview to interview, a phone replaced by a TV camera replaced by reporters' recorders, recapping what just happened.

"We just know that we can finish at the end of the day," the junior said. "That's big for our defense, that it's able to finish games and win games at the end. We know that defense wins championships. So no matter what goes on in the first three quarters, we know that the fourth quarter has to be ours."

With that, Harris follows his teammates' lead, grabbing a box of Chik-fil-A and a drink, quickly visiting with family and friends before weaving through the sea of fans to the team bus.

Purdue was now a thing of the past. It's less than a week before a date with the Indiana Hoosiers.

The time to start over once again has arrived.