Mel Tucker proud of the Spartans, but says there is a lot of football left to play

With eight members of Michigan State’s defense suspended and on the road against a ranked team, Michigan State found a win in the most challenging of weeks. Head coach Mel Tucker reiterated how proud he was of his team, but he was most proud of the way the entire program was able to come together on the inside and block out the noise from the outside.

“The focus was really good and the preparation was outstanding,” said Tucker. “They guys have really become a closer football team throughout this season and that was very apparent during the preparation last week.”

More than a statement win for the program, Michigan State’s win over Illinois kept them bowl eligible. Tucker knows that, but it isn’t something they talk about. Intentional focus - which he harps on - doesn’t go past the next game.

“I told the guys there is still a lot of football left to play,” said Tucker. ”But I reiterated with the staff this morning, we don’t need to talk about winning, we don’t need to talk about winning out, we need to focus on what it takes to prepare to be in the position to win games.”

As far as the eight current suspensions from the incident inside the Michigan Stadium tunnel, the plan is to have those players out through the entirety of the ongoing investigations being done by authorities and the conference. Those players are also out of games, practices, and meetings. Tucker said they will replan and adjust with those players as new information comes out, which they don’t have at this time so those suspensions stay in place.