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More than eight months after being hired to replace Mark Dantonio, Mel Tucker will make his debut as Michigan State’s new head coach. Greg Schiano will coach his first game after returning in the offseason to lead Rutgers.
Source: mlive.com
The Mel Tucker regime is making its debut. This Michigan State team is pretty young and relatively inexperienced in a lot of areas. The quarterback situation is still not figured out. The offensive line, which has struggled with inconsistencies and injuries for the past two seasons, returns a lot of experience. The skill positions offer a lot of talent. The defense is replacing a lot of starters (albeit with plenty of guys who have gotten reps here and there), and the special teams unit is looking for a bounce-back year. MSU has a roster that may surprise some folks. It also has a roster that leaves a lot to be desired at certain spots.
Source: The Only Colors
The Michigan State Spartans finally take the field on Saturday afternoon against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and when the Spartans play this weekend, the players will be wearing “Black Lives Matters” stickers on their helmets.
Source: The Only Colors
There was just one positive case of COVID-19 among 139 athletes and coaches who took polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests from Oct. 15-Thursday. That case was for an athlete, and MSU does not reveal which sports it gets positive test results from, but the 1 of 123 athletes lowered the positivity rate to 0.8%, while the 16 negative tests among staff members dropped it overall to 0.7%.
Source: Detroit Free Press
Outside of Henderson, it doesn’t feel as though anyone in the back end of the defense has a vice grip on a starting job. Brown is certainly a frontrunner to start at corner, and it sounds as though Gervin might be the leader at the other spot. But there could be some significant rotating going on. At safety, Person appears to be the frontrunner to play alongside Henderson. Hallock and Dowell could fit in nicely as backups that see a decent amount of action there.
Source: Spartan Tailgate
Former Michigan State hockey player Troy Ferguson always knew his professional career aspirations would likely happen off the ice. Ferguson was an accomplished player, as a significant part of the USA Hockey National Development Team and later the Spartans. But in his heart, he knew his future would soon be in medicine.
When the Michigan State men’s soccer team makes its debut next spring, the Spartans will be missing some familiar faces: three-star players on the defensive line. Senior defenders Patrick Nielsen and Michael Wetungu were selected in the MLS draft, and junior defender Nick Woodruff joined the New England Revolution II in the United Soccer League (USL).
It’s difficult to project the linebackers without a better idea of MSU’s defensive scheme, and it’s difficult to predict the defensive scheme considering the head coach has run multiple systems, the defensive coordinator ran another last year and the roster is tailored for another. The safest bet seems to be that MSU will still play a good amount of a standard 4-3, as it did throughout the Dantonio era, while mixing in some of the 4-2-5 system defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton utilized at Kansas State in 2019.
Source: Spartan Tailgate
Tucker’s coaching roots trace back to MSU in 1997-98, when served as a graduate assistant under Saban and worked alongside Dantonio, who coached defensive backs at the time. Tucker joined Saban at LSU before reuniting with Dantonio at Ohio State, coaching DBs under the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator and helping OSU win the 2002 national championship. He took over co-coordinator duties in 2004 after Dantonio left for Cincinnati’s head coaching job.
Source: Detroit Free Press
MSU takes on the mighty Rutgers Scarlet Knights (just six years removed from their Quick Lane Bowl win, people forget that) on Saturday and we’ve got the first “3-2-1 Preview” of the season.
Source: The Only Colors
Michigan State University Athletics is deeply saddened to learn that two-sport Spartan great Tom Yewcic has passed away at the age of 88 (1932 – 2020).
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have touched every area of our life. It’s forced us all to evaluate not only our current place, but also our prospects for the future. Michigan State Athletics is not immune from those calculations. Sadly, as a University and an athletic department, we’ve reached a decision that MSU Athletics will no longer sponsor men’s and women’s swimming and diving as varsity sports following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season.
Michigan State women’s basketball player Mardrekia Cook knew her gut feeling was not good. Last February, Cook was practicing when she felt a sharp pain in her right leg and foot, and she immediately thought something was wrong – again.
Matt Charboneau and Tony Paul take a look at the Spartans heading into Saturday’s Big Ten opener against Rutgers in East Lansing at noon.
Spartan Football is back! For a while it didn’t look like that was going to be the case this year, but here we are preparing for a game week for the first time since the Pinstripe Bowl. The Spartans open this season at home with a game against Rutgers. All in all, probably the best way to ease into this odd year, the first under head coach Mel Tucker.
Source: The Only Colors
There’s a good chance the wideouts could be the strongest position group on MSU’s offense. The presumptive top-three of Reed, Nailor, and Mosley should be one of the better trios in the Big Ten. Reed is a proven weapon in the slot, Nailor is arguably the fastest player on the offense and Mosley is a big, physical outside target who performed well as a true freshman. Beyond those three, there isn’t much proven depth but a good amount of promising talent.
Source: Spartan Tailgate
The Spartans unveiled a revamped home uniform on Thursday, posting a picture of junior forward Thomas Kithier modeling his No. 15 white jersey and shorts. The front features the word “STATE” above the number while down the right side of the top and shorts there is a design of the letter ‘S’ that forms a stripe. The left side of the top has no design while the left side of the shorts features the Spartan logo.
🆕🆕🆕 pic.twitter.com/CXc4GU8jc7
— Michigan State Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) October 22, 2020
Source: Detroit News
Secchia was one of Michigan State’s most prominent athletics donors, donating millions to the university’s athletic department and developing close relationships with the team’s most prominent coaches over a span several decades. Spartans coach Tom Izzo said in a statement that Secchia and his wife, Joan, have been “incredible friends to me, Lupe and my family” and credited him with helping Michigan State grow into a national power.
Source: mlive.com