Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker already has a signature win, and it came in just his second game as head coach of the Green and White.
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His Spartans marched into Michigan Stadium last weekend and left with the Paul Bunyan Trophy, upsetting the No. 13 ranked Michigan Wolverines by a 27-24 final score.
“I’m very proud of how our guys played on Saturday,” Tucker said on Tuesday afternoon. “It was a big win for us and for all of our Spartan fans. Thank you for the tremendous amount of support that you showed our team after we brought the Paul Bunyan Trophy back to East Lansing where it belongs.”
And while his players would naturally be riding the high from the monumental victory, Tucker already has them focused on their next opponent. They’ll face Iowa, who is 0-2 on the year so far this Saturday starting at 12:00 PM EST.
“We have to move on to the next opponent,” Tucker said. “I’ve been in rivalry games before, won rivalry games. They’re major accomplishments and they’re important, certainly, for everyone that’s involved – the current players, our former players, our fans, our alumni. But at some point, you have to move on to what’s next. As the head football coach, I have to set the tone in how we do that. That’s what we do. It’s not an issue.”
Tucker had his players dialed in to the annual rivalry game. But now that it’s over, the page must be turned.
“Our players knew what our schedule would be for this week before we went to Ann Arbor so they knew what to expect,” Tucker said. “Our process is about turning the page. We talk about then, now and next all the time. Our players know that we’ve got a 24-hour rule and then we move on to what’s next. What we do next is based upon what we did in the game, things that we have to correct and things we need to build upon.
“Working out on Sunday was part of our plan. Our guys did a great job with that, with our stretch and stride, lifting, yoga, and then also corrections and then turn the page towards Iowa. I feel very good about our process.”
– – Quotes via Matt Wenzel of MLive Link – –
