Mel Tucker admits Michigan State was 'outplayed' at Purdue

Michigan State came into Saturday’s Big Ten road game at Purdue ranked No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 of the season and as a 2.5-point favorite. While the contest was predicted to be closely-played, the unranked Boilermakers instead controlled things and handed the Spartans a 40-29 loss.

Following the setback, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker was quick to give the proper credit to Purdue and coach Jeff Brohm for the performance they put together.

“They outplayed us,” Tucker said. “They made more plays than we made, so we’ve got to give them credit. They played a heck of a ball game. There’s a 24-hour rule for us – win, lose or draw. So what we have to do is we have to get on the tape, we have to get the corrections – get the corrections and get things fixed – then we have to have a great week of preparation and get ready for Maryland coming into the woodshed on Saturday.”

Purdue put up nearly 600 yards of offense while holding Michigan State to 458. The Spartans’ defense allowed Boilermakers quarterback Aidan O’Connell to throw for 536 yards and three touchdowns – and he was the big reason why Brohm’s squad recorded the marquee victory.

Despite the loss, Tucker says Spartans are going to be just fine

Although a loss to an unranked team is never good for a resume, especially for the College Football Playoff, Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said his team is going to be just fine after losing to Purdue on Saturday.

“All of our goals are ahead of us … all of our goals are still ahead of us,” Tucker said. “We’re going to block out all of the noise, we’re going to circle the wagons and the most important voices are going to be the voices inside of our building. We’re going to go back to work and get ready for Maryland. That’s what we’ve got to do. We’re going to own it, give those guys credit where credit is due. They beat us and we need to execute better at a higher level. That’s the approach we’re going to take going into next week.”

Tucker went on to display even more belief in his Spartans’ club, saying that the loss hasn’t changed the way he feels about them whatsoever.

“I don’t feel any different about our team now than I felt before the game,” he said. “We’ve got a great group of guys who play hard all the way to the end – and that’s the type of team we have. That’s the identity … they’re always going to do that. We need better execution in all three phases. That’s what we’re going to work towards this week.”

Michigan State and Maryland kickoff at 4 p.m. ET Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.