Michigan State looks to prove it can handle adversity after Ohio State loss

EAST LANSING — Ohio State knocked Michigan State from the top of the hill in the Big Ten on Saturday night, but Spartans players vowed moments after their 49-37 defeat that they won’t stay down.

“We’re still working,” said Michigan State senior captain and safety Kurtis Drummond. “We’ll come back into work tomorrow, we’ll keep going forward, and that’s the great thing about this team, guys ain’t going to quit or give up.”

The Buckeyes’ victory dashed the Spartans’ College Football Playoff and Big Ten championship game hopes, and coach Mark Dantonio said now is when the character and pride of his football program will be tested.

It’s familiar turf for Dantonio and his program which have built a name for themselves by using a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality to scrap their way into the top 10 of the college football rankings for parts of each of the past four seasons.

“It’s a disappointment in your life, (and) we’re going to have a lot of disappointments in our lives,” he said. “That’s what we talk about all the time. It’s going to be how you respond to those disappointments. - Read more at MLive.com