Mel Tucker knows 2023 is not going to be an easy year for the Michigan State Spartans.

Following Week 1’s victory over Central Michigan, the MSU head coach heaped some major praise on his team for showing great patience and poise despite a rough start to the game. Central Michigan jumped to an early 7-3 lead with around 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Around then, Tucker addressed his players. Here’s what he said he told them on Monday:

“Our attitude, and our demeanor throughout the game, and our poise and our confidence,” Tucker said when asked what he liked from Saturday’s game. “Our patience was great. I told our guys, I said, ‘Listen, this is going to be tough sledding. We have to stick with the process and continue to play the next play.’ I said we might get booed, which we did. I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, just continue to play the next play. Just keep chopping, keep chopping.’”

After that Central Michigan touchdown Michigan State scored 28 unanswered points to finish the final 3 quarters of game time, winning 31-7. It’s not the best score on paper, but the difference in intensity between the first quarter and the rest of the game was staggering.

Michigan State looks to build off its win in Week 2 as the Spartans take on Richmond Saturday at 3:30 on Big Ten Network.