East Lansing — For Michigan State, the Rose Bowl two years ago was everything.
Or at least it felt like that at the time.
When Michigan State knocked off Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game and players celebrated with roses clamped in their teeth, coach Mark Dantonio was asked what it all meant.
“Completion,” Dantonio said.
He might not have realized at the time that moment was, in fact, not completion. It was just another step in building a team that could compete for a national championship. It was exactly what Dantonio believed when he took the job in November 2006.