EAST LANSING – It’s a coaching cliché.
Win or lose, teams have 24 hours to move on.
But not this time, not for Michigan State.
The Spartans (2-4) were blasted 52-12 by No. 4 Ohio State (5-0) on Saturday and first-year coach Mel Tucker demanded the team regroup quickly with a game at Penn State (2-5) next week.
“There’s no 24 hours about it,” Tucker said after the loss. “We’re going to need to do that right now. I told the players they need to watch the tape tonight and then get started on Penn State tonight, which we will do as a staff so we can get ready to move on to the next one so we can have a better performance.”
Mel Tucker upset by another unacceptable performance in blowout loss to Ohio State
Michigan State was thoroughly outplayed by Ohio State from start to finish. Its offense struggled, especially early, and starting quarterback Rocky Lombardi didn’t return after being injured in the second quarter, giving way to redshirt freshman Payton Thorne.
Ohio State led 28-0 at halftime and finished with 521 yards of total offense to 261 for the Spartans. Justin Fields threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 104 yards and two scores.
“This is one of those ones where you just got to soak it up and really just absorb it,” Michigan State senior linebacker Antjuan Simmons said. “You go straight to the film and you watch it right afterwards and you let it marinate. If you’re mad about how you played, be mad. Figure out what you need to do, what you didn’t do right and deal with it.
“Don’t sit there and pout and be like I didn’t do this or I’ll get it next week or I’ll fix it in practice. No, no, uhn uhn. Let those emotions just sit in and marinate and then come tomorrow with the right mindset ready to just move on.”
Michigan State faces more QB uncertainty after Rocky Lombardi struggles again, leaves injured
After replacing Lombardi, Thorne completed his first 11 passes and provided a spark for the offense, although it was already too late and nowhere near enough. And he wasn’t happy about a pair of turnovers committed on an interception and a fumble. As the son of Jeff Thorne, the head coach at North Central College, the reigning Division III national champion from Illinois, he agreed with Tucker’s directive to quickly digest Saturday’s loss and begin looking ahead.
“Playing this game is a seven days a week thing and growing up as a coach’s kid I know that for sure,” Thorne said after the game. “During the week I hardly even saw my dad. And here at the highest level you don’t have time to take 24 hours. You’ve got to watch that film tonight of today’s game. I’m going try to get all my homework out of the way for this next week and make sure it’s done by the end of tomorrow night – or hopefully even tonight would be great – and then get started on Penn State and watch as much as I can before the work week really starts on Monday.”
Overheard outside Michigan State’s locker room: Let it marinate and going to be sick
Michigan State’s two wins this season were against ranked teams in Michigan and Northwestern. Its four losses were all by double digits, including defeats of at least 40 points against Iowa and Ohio State. Following Saturday’s thumping, Tucker said he didn’t really see any positives, other than there’s another game on the schedule next week and a chance for the Spartans to become more physically and mentally ready to compete.
“That’s going to come through practice and preparation throughout the week,” Tucker said. “So whatever we have to do to get that is what we’ll do. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be uncomfortable for everyone involved but it takes what it takes.”
Related Michigan State football stories:
Ohio State’s Justin Fields runs, throws past Michigan State on prolific day at Spartan Stadium
RB Jordon Simmons back in uniform for Michigan State while WR Ricky White among those out
3-star Alabama LB Carson Casteel commits to Michigan State
Michigan State athletics sees just one new COVID-19 case in latest round of testing
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