As well as the Michigan State Spartans played in the second half of the 2013 season, the Purdue Boilermakers did their best to spoil it.
And they almost did.
In last year's matchup, MSU's defense put it on the scoreboard in the second quarter, and the offense added an insurance score in the fourth en route to a less than spectacular 14-0 victory over Purdue.
"They came and played extremely hard," said MSU head coach Mark Dantonio. "It was a physical football game, really from the get go. There were some things that maybe we could have done better, I'm sure."
Dantonio could have said the same about Saturday's narrow victory over Nebraska.
The Spartans nearly blew a 24-point fourth quarter lead against the Cornhuskers, but as the entire country saw with last week's upheaval of Top 25 teams, crazier things have happened.
"Hey, the game -- I don't want to say got away from us, because we won the football game, but things happen in football games," Dantonio said. "You have to be prepared."
Right now they're preparing for a Purdue team that has seen both disappointing and encouraging games so far this season.
The Boilermakers (3-3, 1-1) recorded a 38-17 Week 2 loss to Central Michigan before playing competitively against Notre Dame the following week in a 30-14 loss.
While Purdue is still experimenting at the quarterback position -- Danny Etling started the first five games while Austin Appleby made his first career start in last week's victory over Illinois -- Dantonio knows his team will see the best of the Boilermakers.
"They seem to play up to their competition," Dantonio said. "You watch the Notre Dame game, you watch the Iowa game, you watch this past game; you're impressed by what they have done."
MSU has won the last five meetings between the two teams dating back to Dantonio's first season in East Lansing in 2007.
STUDENT SECTION DISAPPOINTMENT
On Sunday night, Athletic Director Mark Hollis took to Twitter to express his displeasure with MSU's student section against Nebraska.
While at one point the Spartans held a 27-3 lead over the Cornhuskers, many students left before they could see Nebraska's comeback.
On Tuesday, Dantonio said he supported Hollis' statement, and that the stadium's environment was great throughout three quarters, but the fans' absence was noticeable at the end.
"You know, at the end of the game, we needed them there," Dantonio said. "So I don't think there's anything wrong with asking why. Again, we're 19-2 (in last 21 games). We all want a championship. We feed off our fans. Our players feed off our fans. They just do. And I think the fans probably feed off of what's going on on the field. They just do.
"So when you look at that, if you want to change something, you've got to get involved."
PLAYOFF TALK
After a week in college football that saw five top-10 teams record losses, it was no surprise that speculation about MSU's inclusion in the inaugural four-team playoff continued.
While Dantonio's focus remains on each individual game, he believes if MSU reaches and wins the Big Ten Championship game -- especially after taking last year's Rose Bowl win into consideration -- his team deserves to get a look.
"It's my opinion that as a fan, as a football fan, that if you win and you have one loss, because of what you did the year before, the chances of you getting in a game are pretty good, because what happened last year has something to do with it," Dantonio said. "What happens in your conference has something to do with it. Your ranking obviously has a big part to do with it."
HICKS OUT WITH BROKEN ARM
Senior linebacker Mylan Hicks will be out five weeks with a broken arm, Dantonio announced Tuesday.
"We have got guys and we expect them to play well but you're going to miss Mylan's enthusiasm, his leadership and his experience and his playability, play making ability," Dantonio said.
