SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For a while it looked like the month of practice helped, that the quarterback got time to heal and the coaches got time to scheme and the program at Michigan State football had time to reboot.
The Spartans actually moved the ball a bit on Monday afternoon during the first half of the Redbox Bowl, a 7-6 loss to Oregon.
Haltingly, sure. But still moved the ball.
Happy New Year, right?
Well, not exactly.
All that early promise faded, the Spartans began to stumble and even when they had a chance to put a little ribbon on a difficult season they fumbled it all away.