Michigan State Veteran DL Maverick Hansen Enjoys 'The Underdog Mentality'

Michigan State football is being counted out before the 2024 season even begins, and veteran defensive tackle Maverick Hansen wouldn't have it any other way.

Nov 4, 2023; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans defensive lineman Maverick Hansen (97) sacks Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Heinrich Haarberg (10) in the first quarter at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports

Not a whole lot is expected of Michigan State football as it comes off a four-win season and enters the unknown with a new regime at the helm.

Sixth-year graduate senior defensive tackle Maverick Hansen is no stranger to those low expectations, having experienced it with the two regimes that came before.

The veteran is embracing the doubts, as he feels his team can prove a lot of people wrong this season.

"Honestly, I like the underdog mentality," Hansen told reporters on Tuesday. "As a program, we've been the underdog in many years, even when Coach [Mark] Dantonio was here, and we showed that we could do stuff. They've always looked at us as an underdog. So, I really like that. And obviously, our goal is to win the national championship, just like everyone else right now. But as far as executing that and going out there and doing it at the best level, I really think that we can get it done with the amount of depth and the type of culture that Coach [Jonathan] Smith is bringing in here."

Having been around the program for as long as he has, Hansen knows that you have to approach each season with a one-game-at-a-time mentality.

"Honestly, for me, I always think about what's after the season," he said. "But first thing's first is the season. We got to get through those 12 games. But my biggest goal is get that bowl game, get to the Big Ten championship and get us a chance at the natty, man. I mean, that's really all anyone in college football could really hope for. So, I don't know, I've always had that kind of in the back of my mind that I kind of just tuck it away and be like, 'OK, we got one day at a time,' but it is something that I do think about."

Hansen has only experienced two winning seasons at Michigan State, including the 2021 campaign when the Spartans went 11-2 and secured a spot in a New Year's Six Bowl, which it won in a come-from-behind effort against Pittsburgh in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

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