Mel Tucker addresses challenges of managing team after a win

Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker and his Spartans team got to celebrate the start of the college football season with a win. The program picked up 31-7 home victory under the lights over Central Michigan during Friday of Week 1.

But there’s still at least three months to go in the season, and Tucker was asked about how he keeps the team focused after winning.

“It just depends on the player,” Tucker said. “We got a 24-hour rule. It’s hard to win football games. I know there’s a lot of teams right now that are sitting around 0-1. If you have players that are mature and they’ve been there before and they understand it’s a lot easier. Some of the guys who maybe haven’t been there before don’t know how to handle it as well and it’s a little more challenging.

“But the attitude we have today from the coaches and the players, I didn’t see any complacency. Everyone was locked in. That’s not a concern of mine right now. We’ll see what happens once we start putting the pads on.”

Noah Kim earned the start at quarterback, completing 18 of his 31 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Nate Carter led the rushing attack with 13 carries for 113 yards and one touchdown.

Cal Haladay had a team-high 10 total tackles while also adding an interception.

It was a slow burn of a win as neither team scored in the first quarter and Michigan State scored 21 of its points after halftime. But the Spartans defense was great as they held the Chippewas to only 219 yards on 66 plays.

One moment during the game that caused Michigan State to hold its breath came on the opening kickoff when wide receiver Alante Brown went down after a hit. He had to be taken off the field on a cart but returned to the sideline later in the game.

“For me, all those decisions are all medical,” Tucker said. “If a guy plays, if he doesn’t play, if he practices, he doesn’t practice, it’s all medical. I don’t have anything to do with those. If they tell me a guy’s up and he can go, then he’ll play. If they tell me he’s down, then he’s out. That’s what happened.”

The Spartans will now face off against FCS Richmond this week at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.