Familiar foe: Mel Tucker preparing to once again lead a defensive unit against Justin Fields

Mel Tucker and the Spartans face a tall task this weekend, but Tucker will be going up against a familiar face.

Squaring off against Ohio State is never an easy task, especially for the first-year coach of the Spartans. Star quarterback Justin Fields has been on a roll this season, following up his Heisman Trophy finalist season with plenty of highlight-reel plays in 2020.

Fortunately, Tucker is somewhat used to scheming a defense for Fields having previously led the UGA defense during Fields’ lone season in Athens. He touched on their past during his radio appearance Thursday:

Tucker reminds everyone when he was at Georgia, he “coached that defense every day” in practice against Ohio State QB Justin Fields before he transferred to Columbus.

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) December 4, 2020

Tucker went on to say that he encouraged the Spartans to have an especially short memory after the upset of Northwestern, getting the team right back to work in preparation for the Buckeyes.

Mel Tucker said MSU had more of “a 12-hour rule” instead of 24 after upsetting Northwestern to quickly turn to preparing for No. 4 Ohio State. “I expect to win every game on our schedule,” he says and not a mindset “to give it the old college try and see what happens.”

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) December 4, 2020

The upset of Northwestern may have been the best work of Michigan State so far this season, but taking on the animal that is Ohio State is an entirely different case. Tucker will need all his knowledge on Fields and a flawlessly executed gameplan to try and take down the Buckeyes.

Saturday’s kickoff is set for 12 pm EST on ABC.