Harlon Barnett promises to remember everything in his 1st game as acting head coach
After all of the drama surrounding the Michigan State Spartans this past week thanks to the fallout from the actions of Mel Tucker, they still had a football game to prepare for with Harlon Barnett as acting head coach. And by the time it was all said and done tonight, the Spartans allowed a program-worst 713 yards of offense in what was a 41-7 lopsided loss to the Washington Huskies.
The Michigan State Spartans were manhandled by Washington
Nothing went right for Michigan State this evening at Spartan Stadium, falling into a 21-0 hole and eventually allowing five touchdown drives by the Huskies. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw for 473 yards and four touchdowns on 27-for-35 passing, while Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan amassed a combined 394 receiving yards. Meanwhile, Spartans quarterback Noah Kim finished 12 of 31 for 136 yards and an interception.
Harlon Barnett promises to remember every bit of the game
Taking the podium for the first time as acting head coach, Barnett stated the obvious right off the bat – but promised that he'd be remembering all of it.
“Obviously, it wasn't the game we thought we were gonna see tonight,” he said. “And I won't forget that. First time being a head coach in a game, and I'll remember all of this, I promise you I'll remember every single bit of it.”
“I have to be better. We have to be better,” he added. “There's a lot of things we need to clean up in terms of missed tackles and substitution errors and things like that.”
However, there was no doom and gloom talk from Barnett, who is keeping a positive attitude in a difficult circumstance.
“We'll get those things cleaned up, and we're looking forward to starting Big Ten play, and all of our goals are still in front of us. That's our mindset right now.”
According to Barnett, none of his players have decided to stop playing in the midst of the uncertainty with the coaching situation.
“You never want to be a quitter,” he said.
TL;DR (too long didn't read)
- The Michigan State Spartans were manhandled at home by the Washington Huskies by a 41-7 final score
- Harlon Barnett had his first game as acting head coach after taking over for the suspended Mel Tucker
- Harlon Barnett promises to remember all of tonight's brutal loss and also said that there is a lot for his team to clean up
Bottom Line: It was a rough night for MSU
This has been anything but an easy week for the Spartans, who were not only outmatched and outclassed on the field by their opponent but also were dragged through the mud thanks to the actions of Mel Tucker.
They'll get back to work this week as they prepare to try and bounce back when Maryland comes to Spartan Stadium next Saturday.
