MSU Football: Mel Tucker expects "dogfight" from CMU in season-opener
As Michigan State prepares to open its 2023 season with an in-state battle with Central Michigan, Spartans head coach Mel Tucker warned against overlooking the Chippewas, who are currently a 14.5-point underdog heading into Friday night's game.
"Preparation, mentally and physically, is very important," Tucker told reporters at his weekly press conference on Monday. "I told the players yesterday, 'Listen, I'm not one of those guys that's going to come in here and rant and rave, and yell and scream in front of you and try to scare you to get you ready for a team because you might take them lightly.' We're not good enough to take anybody lightly. We never have been, we never will be."
Veterans within Michigan State's fanbase know that Tucker's sentiments concerning CMU are not just lip-service. The Spartans are 8-3 all-time against Central Michigan, last losing to the Chippewas in 2009 in former head coach Mark Dantonio's third season.
Tucker said his coaching staff showed the current players footage from the most recent game between MSU and CMU, a 31-20 victory for the Spartans in 2018.
"We showed the players the last time Central came here — a really tight game," Tucker said. "We showed them the highlights and we showed them the commentary that the Big Ten Network had after the game. Just to make sure everyone understands the challenge at hand. [Central Michigan's] belief level is going to be super high."
Michigan State strength and conditioning coach Jason Novak, who served in the same role at Central Michigan from 2015-2019, addressed the team at Tucker's request.
"He knows all about it," Tucker said of Novak. "He knows how they see the game, what their mentality is towards this game. It's important for our guys to understand that, and also make sure the players understood what our mindset is going into the game as well."
Asked specifically how Central Michigan's defense could challenge Michigan State, who will be breaking in a new starting quarterback, Tucker was highly complimentary of the Chippewa defenders.
"They're going to play really hard," Tucker said. "They do a good job mixing the coverages and the fronts. They have some really good pressure packages on first and second down, and third down. They're well-coached. They do a good job with disguising. Guys fly to the ball. They've got some active guys in the front seven that can whip guys one-on-one. That's what they show on tape."
Tucker has history coaching against Central Michigan head man Jim McElwain in the SEC. While Tucker served as defensive coordinator for Alabama (2015) and Georgia (2016-17), McElwain was the head coach at Florida (2015-17). Tucker came out on top in two of the three games between the coaches during their SEC days.
"Coach McElwain, I mean, he's a coach. He's going to scheme you up. The guy knows what he's doing. He's proven that," Tucker said. "They are very well-coached, they have a good team. We'll have to be at our best, we'll have to continue to prepare and I know they'll be at their best."
I mean, they're just well-coached and they play extremely hard and they have some good players. Everybody's got good players. We know that. So, they're no different. They've got quite a few good players. We'll have our hands full."
Asked if he was hoping to play a lot of guys in Week 1, Tucker scoffed at the idea that Michigan State would use a so-called "lesser opponent" to give younger guys a chance to gain experience.
"We are going to do what we need to do to win the game, and that's our focus," Tucker said. "The starters are going to start, and then we're going to rotate as many guys in as we can — the guys that deserve to play.
"We want to keep our guys fresh. We'll take it one series at a time, one play at a time, six seconds per play for 60 minutes of the game, four quarters. That's the focus. It's about winning the game, and whoever plays, plays."
Michigan State has a rich history of scheduling non-conference games against the state's directional schools (Central, Western and Eastern), having played at least one of those programs in 25 of the last 33 years going back to 2000. CMU is the only directional school which has beaten the Spartans during that timeframe, with wins in 1991 and 1992 in addition to 2009.
"I think it's good to be able to play in-state schools," Tucker said. "It's important to us. I think it's good for our state and it's going to be a dogfight. It's going to be a challenge, no doubt about it. Always has been...It's going to be a tough battle. We're expecting it to be a four-quarter game. We need to play harder for longer."
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