| Detroit Free Press
Michigan State’s Mel Tucker after a disappointing win: ‘We need brand football’
Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker is speaking on Friday, November 28, 2020, following the Spartans’ 29-20 victory over Northwestern in East Lansing.
Pre-Lansing – When you thought you had the state of Michigan Footb .l Find out, it’s all up to you 2020.
A match against the best defense in the country? Never mind
A struggling quarterback who has struggled as a result to keep his job? No problem; All of a sudden, the ball will start flying around for a touchdown.
Defense defends in two straight games and moves on to a third straight meltdown? Nah, not this time.
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The Spartans shocked 13th-ranked Northwestern from the start on Saturday. They play y: ard from Matt Coglin. Used 49-yard field goals to play the game and could pull a 29-2 upset by getting a timely run from quarterback Rocky Lombardy in the fourth quarter.
Callon Gavin roared for a touchdown in the final zone as MSU coach Mel Tucker ran out of time to give his second win in his first season, against both ranked opponents.
“We were able to show the mental toughness we feel to win and beat really good teams,” Tucker said. “I’m proud of this football team.”
Lombardy’s third and 10-run Coglin’s winning kick set. He completed 11-of-27 and two TDs passing in 16-yards with interception. He ran 10 times for 65 yards, and junior Connor Hayward had 96 yards in 24 carry. The Spartans outscored the Wildcats by 362-294, and pushed three Wildcats turnovers, including two Shakur Brown interceptions.
“It’s been a fantastic year. We got new staff, we got a young offense and defense, ”Lombardy said. “It’s just a combination of everything and trying to stay consistent every week and keep your best foot forward every week. Because in this kind of league, in the Big Ten, if you don’t put your best foot forward every week, you can be defeated by anyone, as we saw. “
It was Michigan State’s first game since beating Indiana 24-0 on November 14, which prompted Tucker to challenge his team’s efforts and commitment to the program. “This is a competition to play, a competition to stay,” he said at the time.
It was an extra week for the Spartans (2-3-2) to buy that mindset, as last week’s game against Maryland was canceled due to Covid-19 issues within the Terrapins program.
Next up is the No. 3 state of Ohio, which operates its own coronavirus outbreak. The bookies ’game against Illinois on Saturday was called up on Friday when coach Ryan Day tested positive for COVID-19 and other cases forced OSU to stop the trip.
While the Bookies (-0-0) spent Saturday wondering if they would play enough games to qualify for the Big Ten Championship, the Spartans sent the Big Ten West-leading Wildcats (-1-1) to their first loss from the starting division. Leader.
After losses to MSU, Iowa and the Hoosiers, the running average averaged 83.7.8 yards per game, ranking 144th out of 127 football bowl subdivision teams playing this fall, most of which were won in Michigan in October. Prepared by season-high-2 by. 31. The Spartans had 60 or fewer yards in their other three games – all losses.
Against the Wildcats, who came in to rank 13th in the 100.6-yard game nationally against the race, MSU came out and put it on the line of will and found its season high with 134 yards running in the first half. Hayward ran 12 times for y1 yards, and Lombardy had five runs for 43 yards.
That ability to run the ball helped Lombardy open things up. He gave Jalen Nellore a 75-yard bomb for a touchdown on MSU’s second possession, then early in the second quarter to hit Jayden Reid on a 15-yard fade from the slot for a second scoring strike on the first play of the second quarter. 13-to cap the drive. A Shakur Brown interception after the first TD, setting a 22-yard Coglin field goal, gave the Spartans 17 points in the first 15 minutes of the 15-foot.
The Wildcats got a pair of field goals at the end of the half, then opened the third quarter by quickly moving into the MSU territory by air, 55 yards out at the hands of Piston Ramsey, and another 12 receiver relay lease trick on the throwback pass. Ramsey then stopped him with a fourth-goal 1-yard TD run on a naked bootleg.
Northwest took its first lead for the establishment of a short field by Punt interfering with MSU’s Julian Barnett. Cam Porter took a wild snatch and took part in a 3 yard score with 13:54 to keep the Wildcats ahead 20-17.
Both teams sold turnover – a Lombardy interruption, followed soon after by MSU’s Jack Kemper messing up the Northwest. This is Coglin’s 43-yard field goal with 10 yards left.
To play: 22: ૨૨ And with Northwestern facing the third and 7th, Brown threw Ramsey to Berkeley Hallman and knocked the Wildcats receiver to the ground. Holman had to drive off the field, but the Spartans got the ball to set the knocklab set of Coglin’s winning kick.
Ramsey, who moved from Indiana to Northwestern in the season, finished 21 of 43 for 210 yards and two interceptions with TD without ending.
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