In some ways, it was what we hoped for: Georgia’s All-SEC receivers were non-factors, and MSU was able to bottle up Knowshon Moreno. The Spartans forced turnovers and were able to get consistent pressure on Matthew Stafford. Brian Hoyer, though he missed on some passes, didn’t repeat last year’s bowl performance against Boston College. The game stayed close, allowing MSU to stick to its running-focused game plan.

In some ways, it was what we feared: Georgia played the run, stopped Javon Ringer, and MSU’s passing attack wasn’t able to take advantage. Once Stafford hit his stride—helped out by halftime adjustments that emphasized receivers other than A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi—MSU had trouble containing the Bulldogs. In the second half, when Georgia started to make headway against MSU’s defense, the Spartans couldn’t keep up.

The result was a 24-12 Georgia win. It’s sort of a split decision: First, it’s a loss, and considering all of the Spartans’ missed first-half opportunities, Michigan State had a real chance to win the game. But MSU finally hung in with an elite opponent, which counts as a significant achievement after the debacles against Penn State and Ohio State.

There are no moral victories. Then again, the Spartans’ poor play in big games had left the team open to questions like the one posed to Javon Ringer about whether he was surprised the Spartans were in the game at halftime. He answered, “It wasn’t surprising. I was pretty confident in our team and our ability. We just didn’t capitalize on things when we needed to. We had field position, and we didn’t get touchdowns, and that really hurt us.”

So even in defeat, the Spartans justified their confidence and were able to shift the post-game discussion to the actual X’s and O’s, instead of existential questions about whether State belonged on the same field as Georgia.

Seniors like Ringer, Hoyer and Otis Wiley spent parts of their postgame press conferences predicting big things for future Spartan teams, something that reminds me of the end of Antonio Smith’s career playing basketball at MSU. Smith helped raise Tom Izzo’s team to an elite level, but the national championship came in the first season post-Smith.

I don’t know if the Spartan football team will be shooting for a national title next season, but probably pretty close: Mark Dantonio mentioned making a BCS bowl in his postgame comments.

Though this loss keeps 2008 from counting as unqualified success, it keeps MSU on its fast trajectory to national prominence. With many key players returning, and top recruits ready to step in at quarterback, running back and elsewhere, the expectations will be even higher in 2009.

And with that, the Mitten will let the Capital One Bowl—and the 2008 MSU football season—rest in peace.

Box.