Survive and advance. You're judged by the final score first and foremost. MSU won by 20. It may be an ugly 20, but it's still a win, and still a win by 20.
Since the gameday trolls always talk about "objectivity," here's some perspective:
Ranked teams that struggled against unranked teams.
TCU (ranked 2 or 3) barely beat unranked Texas Tech - winning on a deflected pass
Ole Miss (3AP) beat Vandy by 11, less than our 20
LSU (8) beat Syracuse by 10, less than our 20
Texas A&M (14) beat the Bielemas in Overtime to win
Northwestern (19) beat Ball State by 5
Georgia Tech (20) lost to Duke
BYU (22) lost to scUM
OK State (24) only won because Texas choked it away
Missouri (25) lost to Kentucky
If you factor in week 3:
Ohio State (1) beat Northern Illinois thanks to a pick
USC (then 6) lost to Stanford
Florida State (9/10) won 14-0 against Boston College - solid, but less than our 20
Clemson (then/now 11) beat Louisville by 3
As far as other teams and playoffs, if MSU is undefeated, it will take care of itself. MSU plays Ohio State late in the year. If MSU plays Ohio State the way it played against Central, will we win? Probably not, but that game is in week 12. Michigan is in week 7. Teams aren't the same week to week.
Purdue is next.
Since the gameday trolls always talk about "objectivity," here's some perspective:
Ranked teams that struggled against unranked teams.
TCU (ranked 2 or 3) barely beat unranked Texas Tech - winning on a deflected pass
Ole Miss (3AP) beat Vandy by 11, less than our 20
LSU (8) beat Syracuse by 10, less than our 20
Texas A&M (14) beat the Bielemas in Overtime to win
Northwestern (19) beat Ball State by 5
Georgia Tech (20) lost to Duke
BYU (22) lost to scUM
OK State (24) only won because Texas choked it away
Missouri (25) lost to Kentucky
If you factor in week 3:
Ohio State (1) beat Northern Illinois thanks to a pick
USC (then 6) lost to Stanford
Florida State (9/10) won 14-0 against Boston College - solid, but less than our 20
Clemson (then/now 11) beat Louisville by 3
As far as other teams and playoffs, if MSU is undefeated, it will take care of itself. MSU plays Ohio State late in the year. If MSU plays Ohio State the way it played against Central, will we win? Probably not, but that game is in week 12. Michigan is in week 7. Teams aren't the same week to week.
Purdue is next.
