EAST LANSING, Mich. — It hasn’t taken Mel Tucker long to move on from Friday’s season-opening victory at Northwestern.
As much momentum and excitement that was provided by the 38-21 win to not only begin the season, but the Big Ten season as well, Tucker was quickly moving on to what’s next. In this case, it’s Saturday’s home opener against Youngstown State.
While not the caliber of opponent of Northwestern, Tucker is familiar with the Penguins, and after breaking down Michigan State’s tape from last week, he quickly realized the Spartans have plenty of work ahead of them.
“How much time do you got?” Tucker asked, with only a slight smile when asked what his thoughts were after reviewing the game.
In other words, it wasn’t as impressive as it might have looked at first glance, and Tucker already was busy getting things straightened out, having just finished up the first full practice of the week. From defensive miscues to missed opportunities on offense, Tucker rattled off quite the list of issues that need to be ironed out over the next few days.
“I was very proud of our team’s effort against Northwestern,” Tucker said Tuesday. “Our players were very focused and they were ready to go, but I would say we have a lot of room for improvement.”
Most of those issues that need attention were on the defensive side of the ball.
Tucker pointed the handful of explosive plays, including three Northwestern pass completions of more than 25 yards with two (47 and 41 yards) going for more than 40. Add in what Tucker called far too many missed tackles that didn’t show up because the pursuit to the ball was good, and it left plenty on the table.
“I think we missed 25 tackles, but it really doesn’t show up because the pursuit was there,” Tucker said. “ We need to be able to be a higher-percentage tackling team, and then we had some explosive passes that we need to eliminate. Even though we get them stopped, eventually it flips the field and the offense is getting the ball at the 30-some yard line going the other way and the scoring probability is not what it needs to be.”
Outside of the final two drives of the game that occurred when the game had all but been decided, Michigan State never started better than its 39.
Of course, it didn’t prove to be much of a deterrent as the Spartans gained more than 500 total yards, rushing for 326 and scoring 38 points. But as the schedule gets tougher, things might not always work out.
“We had too many mental errors for what we're doing,” Tucker said. “So those things need to get cleaned up. They don't necessarily show up to the naked eye, but it doesn't catch up to you until it catches up to you. So we're diligently working on that.”
Things were a bit more smooth for the offense as Kenneth Walker rambled for 264 yards rushing with four touchdowns and quarterback Payton Thorne threw for 185 yards and a touchdown without an interception.
Still, there were a few drives that stalled, and Tucker was focused on the reasons why.
“We weren't able to connect on some deep balls,” Tucker said. “We want to definitely be explosive in the passing game. We had a couple of penalties, things that we need to clean up, and we left some plays out on the field.”
Even with a few missed passes, Tucker liked the way Thorne played in his first game as Michigan State’s starter.
While Tucker informed the quarterbacks nearly a week before the game, he did not reveal publicly until just before kickoff that Thorne had won the battle with graduate transfer Anthony Russo. Thorne responded with a solid effort, though far from spectacular.
“He was solid,” Tucker said. “He took care of the ball, made some good decisions and when he had the opportunity to throw the ball away, threw it away. He had a presence in the pocket and was able to step up in the pocket, keep his eyes downfield and delivered a ball.
"He was leading and showed good composure, things like that. But there's areas where he needs to improve, just like all of us, coaches and players. So he was solid and I think if you have to same question, he’d probably say the same.”
While Youngstown State, an FCS team that had to go overtime to beat Incarnate Word in its opener, might not offer much in resistance Saturday, Tucker still believes this week will be important. In two weeks, Michigan State travels to Miami (Florida), and by then, he’s hoping most of the kinks have been worked out.
“There are a lot of things that need to be cleaned up, but I believe that you should make your most improvement between game one and game two,” Tucker said. “But behavior precedes success. So we have to do it and put in the work.”
