After a loss at Oregon two weeks ago, Michigan State may need to win all of its remaining games to have a shot at making the inaugural college football playoff.
But don't expect Coach Mark Dantonio to rely on style points to get his 11th-ranked Spartans there.
"We are going to play to win, and after that is accomplished, we're going to try to get our younger players playing and develop experience and depth on this football team," Dantonio said. "I'm not interested in taking a timeout before the end of the game to get another seven points. I'm interested in playing the game the way it's supposed to be played and letting it go."
Michigan State (1-1), which is coming off a bye week as the highest-ranked team from the Big Ten, is a 45 1/2-point favorite against Eastern Michigan on Saturday. They then host Wyoming next week before hosting Nebraska on Oct. 4 in their Big Ten opener.
"Here we are at the beginning of the season with the bye after two games. That's very early in the process. And I think any time that's happening, you want to play," Dantonio said. "We want to be fresh. We want to be motivated to play and have great attention to detail, all those different things we talk about."
It's a ring thing
For a few uneasy moments Tuesday, at least one married fan in the Wrigley Field bleachers had someting in common with most Chicago Cubs players: none of them had a ring.
An unidentified man attending Tuesday's game against the Cincinnati Reds caught Jorge Soler's seventh-inning home run ball, but dropped his wedding ring onto the left-field warning track in the process.
Video showed the man smiling and giving high-fives in the stands before he looks down at his hand and realizes it's missing something very important.
"My ring," Cubs color commentator Jim DeShaies said. "That moment of euphoria immediately squashed. Oh, that's heartbreaking."
"From jubilation to utter despair," play-by-play announcer Len Kasper added.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the man was able to get his ring back.
In providing a link online to the story, satirical website Fark.com offered this headline: "Good: Cubs fan catches homerun ball. Bad: Loses wedding ring during celebration. Good: Grounds crew locates ring and returns it. Cubs players said they would have helped look but they have no idea what a ring is."
Stick to basketball
Also in attendance at Tuesday's Reds-Cubs game was Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame forward and TNT analyst Charles Barkley, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
"Clad in a [shall we say] snug Cubs jersey with No. 34 and 'Barkley' on the back, the former Auburn and NBA star known as the "Round Mound of Rebound' missed well inside on his effort," Creg Stephenson of al.com wrote. "But Barkley's pitch was nowhere near as ugly as some attempts we've seen from former professional athletes and other celebrities, nor was it as unsightly as his golf swing."
Sports quiz
Since winning their last World Series in 1908, how many times have the Chicago Cubs appeared in the Fall Classic?
Answer
Seven, with the most recent appearance in 1945.
Sports on 09/19/2014