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What Michigan State’s Mel Tucker said during his weekly press conference
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For Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker, the 2020 season has already been a roller coaster ride.
After a season-opening upset loss to Rutgers, the Spartans bounced back with a thrilling upset victory over rival Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Then, back down again.
Before the Spartans could even blink they were down 35-0 against Iowa last weekend, in a game that saw MSU’s defense unable to stop anything early against the Hawkeyes. Back-to-back 70-yard plus drives by Iowa gave the hosts an early 14-0 lead, and they didn’t look back.
This week won’t get any easier for Tucker, as Michigan State hosts No. 10 Indiana on Saturday in East Lansing.
On Tuesday, Tucker met with the media via a Zoom press conference and discussed some of the problems with the Spartans’ performance against Iowa, as well as some of the preparations in the works to take on the Hoosiers.
Here’s what Tucker had to say on Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
Mel Tucker: "We've got a lot of work to do at quarterback, at every position."
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) November 10, 2020
Tucker says Iowa loss was unacceptable but time to move on. Really likes the “well-rounded” Indiana team.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Mel Tucker on Zoom presser: "Last week's game was unacceptable. … We've looked at the tape and we've made the corrections we needed to make relative to that game."
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) November 10, 2020
Tucker again reiterates the need for “consistency in performance.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Tucker: “You can’t live in the past. That’s not a formula for success.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Tucker on defense not forcing any turnovers past two games: “To generate takeaways is huge. We talk about turnover margin ad nauseam.” Need pass rush and coverage working together. “Last week, we didn’t have that.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Tucker said he added an extra period to MSU’s practice Monday to focus on fundamentals.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Tucker on fixing issues: “When you watch the film, sometimes it makes you sick because it’s a basic fundamental.” Adds “you cannot scheme your way out of a game if you don’t play with fundamentals and physical and mental toughness.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Tucker: "You cannot scheme your way out of a game if you don’t play with technique and fundamentals and discipline. …That’s where we are this week.
— Colton Pouncy (@colton_pouncy) November 10, 2020
Tucker said he likes Indiana’s Penix “a lot.” On his QB, he says Lombardi “would be the first to tell you he didn’t play well.” Tucker didn’t think MSU “had anyone play at a high level” at Iowa.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Tucker said at Iowa last week, MSU had "six drives on offense where we killed ourselves."
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) November 10, 2020
Tucker on facing Top 10 Indiana: “I want to get them out there against those guys and play and compete against a good team. Shoot, if you don’t want to play against good teams, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) November 10, 2020
Scott Schultz covers Michigan State Football, along with Breaking News for B1G Football & Basketball for Saturday Tradition. He also serves as an Automotive News Editor & Writer, and Softball Writer elsewhere on the web. Follow him on Twitter @SRSchultz.