PASADENA, Calif. — Somewhere, Max Bullough had to be celebrating Michigan State's win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
And his Spartans teammates wanted to make it clear he wasn't forgotten.
A week ago, the Spartans learned they'd be without one of their captains and their starting middle linebacker in the Rose Bowl, an emotional blow to a program that was making its first trip to Pasadena since 1988.
So when the Michigan State players took the field, many sported Bullough's No. 40 on their towels as a tribute to what he meant to this year's team.
"Just showing him the respect he needs," cornerback Darqueze Dennard said after the 24-20 win. "Everybody just needs to know that he's still a Spartan Dawg and he's going to be a Spartan Dawg for life.
"This win is for him."
Dennard said the notion to honor Bullough, who was suspended on Christmas night for a violation of team rules, was "everybody's idea. we all bought in."
One of the effects of Bullough's suspension is that it thrust his brother Riley, a redshirt freshman, into the media spotlight. Riley Bullough spoke with reporters at media day and again in the locker room afterward.
"It sucks not having him here, but right when I get out of the locker room I'm going to call him," said Riley, who confirmed his brother was at the game. "I'm sure he's just as excited as we are.
"It was definitely tough, especially when we first got out here not having Max. As the week progressed, we started getting in the swing of things and started to get more focused on the game."
Fifth-year senior Kyler Elsworth started in Bullough's place. He and sophomore Darien Harris were two of the guys who helped stop Stanford on fourth-and-1 to seal the Spartans' win.
"It was crazy," Riley Bullough said. "That one play just sums up our whole season. This is the most resilient team I've ever been on."
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