Michigan State Football: 10 most painful losses of Mark Dantonio era

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 21: Darqueze Dennard #31 of the Michigan State Spartans breaks up a pass intended for DeVarius Daniels #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 21, 2013 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Michigan State 17-13. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

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IOWA CITY, IA – OCTOBER 30: Wide receiver Mark Bell #2 of the Michigan State Spartans is tackled by defensive back Tyler Sash #9 of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and his teammate defensive back Shaun Prater #28 as he rushes for yards during the first half of play at Kinnick Stadium on October 30, 2010 in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 37-6 over Michigan State. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

10. Iowa crushes undefeated hopes (2010)

It seemed like a dream season. The Spartans opened the year with an 8-0 overall record and 4-0 mark in conference play thanks to wins over Notre Dame, Michigan and Wisconsin and it looked like they had a favorable enough schedule to go undefeated.

Kirk Cousins and Co. had to head to Iowa to face the 5-2 Hawkeyes just one year after losing a heartbreaker in East Lansing with no time left (we’ll touch on that game later).

It didn’t take long for the game to get completely out of hand after a Cousins pick-six made the score 17-0 Iowa at the end of the first quarter. The Hawkeyes tacked on 13 unanswered points before the half and led 30-0. Nothing was going right for the Spartans who only managed six points all game long.

That ended all hope for an undefeated season and it was excruciating to watch the beatdown take place on a team that was 8-0 and looking like the first true “breakout” squad in the Mark Dantonio era.

Michigan State went on to share a Big Ten regular season title with Wisconsin, but this one definitely hurt.

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