Had this season been next season, Michigan State probably would have been part of a four-team college football playoff.
The Spartans entered the 100th Rose Bowl ranked No. 4 in the final Bowl Championship Series standings, the USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press media poll.
Coach Mark Dantonio was asked after the Spartans defeated No. 5 Stanford, 24-20, on Wednesday whether Michigan State was ready to compete for a national championship.
"That's our plan. Our plan is to keep winning," he said. "Our plan is that we're one game away. I said, 'Why not us?' a couple of weeks ago. I think we can compete with anybody in this country."
Michigan State's only loss in 14 games this season was to Notre Dame, 17-13, at South Bend, Ind., in September.
Stuffed Cardinal
Stanford had 305 yards in total offense, 57 more than Michigan State's top-rated defense had been giving up on average. But after the first quarter, the Spartans dominated.
Stanford ran for 91 yards in the first quarter and had 71 thereafter. The Cardinal had 146 total yards in the first period and 159 in the final three quarters.
"In the second half they made some good adjustments," Cardinal running back Tyler Gaffney said. "Everywhere I looked there was a green defender. That's what they do and that's what they pride themselves on, and they did it well."
Called out
A reporter tried hard — very hard — to give Stanford's David Shaw an out for a couple of play calls in the second half, but the coach didn't bite on the available excuse.
"On the fourth-and-three play … was that an audible that [quarterback] Kevin [Hogan] ran …? What exactly happened on that play?" Shaw was asked.
The question referred to Gaffney being stuffed for a three-yard loss with the score tied, 17-17, and Stanford at the Michigan State 36 late in the third quarter.
"That was a play call. They played it well," he replied.
Reporter in a follow-up question: "And what about the fourth-and-one with [Ryan] Hewitt? That was not an audible either?"
That query referred to Hewitt carrying for the only time in the game — and being stuffed for no gain — with Stanford at its own 34 and trailing by four points with 1 minute 46 seconds left in regulation.
"No, it was a play call," Shaw said.
Ups and downs
Stanford's Ben Rhyne averaged more than 54 yards in his first three punts — including a career-long of 60 yards — but a lesser effort on his fourth kick was a key play in the game.
The ball traveled 39 yards, and it was returned 19 yards, to Stanford's 27, by Michigan State's Macgarrett Kings Jr.
On the third play after, Connor Cook connected with Tony Lippett on a 25-yard touchdown pass that gave the Spartans at 24-17 lead.
Late in the game, Rhyne was in the middle of another important play — a botched field-goal try that turned into a pass play that worked … until it didn't.
Rhyne, the holder-turned-passer, found Trent Murphy for an eight-yard gain and an apparent first down inside the Michigan State 10. But Stanford was called for an illegal formation, nullifying the play.
A touchdown would have tied the score, but Stanford — facing a fourth-and-10 after the penalty — settled for a 39-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson.
Extra points
The crowd of 95,173 was the Rose Bowl game's largest since 1998, when 101,219 saw Michigan defeat Washington State. … Pac-12 Conference teams went 6-3 in bowl games. … Big Ten teams are 2-4 in bowl games with Ohio State still to play in Friday's Orange Bowl against Clemson. ... Stanford's offense came into the Rose Bowl with the fewest plays for losses in major college football, an average of 3.7 per game. Michigan State had 10. … Stanford has a record of 16-3 with Kevin Hogan as the starting quarterback. The loss to Michigan State was his first in 11 starts against ranked teams.
mike.hiserman@latimes.com
Twitter.com: @MikeHiserman
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