Mel Tucker got his first taste of the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry 26 years ago, as a grad assistant under then-Spartans head coach Nick Saban. He knows exactly how much the game means around here, even if more than two decades elapsed before he'd return to East Lansing in 2020. Like a strong scent, some things just stick with you.
"From the day I got here in my initial press conference, I’m not stepping away, I’m not shying away from the challenge of the rivalry," Tucker said at Big Ten media days on Wednesday in Indianapolis. "It’s the biggest game of the year for us. And it’s always going to be like that as long as I’m the coach here."
Tucker won his first two games against Michigan as Michigan State's head coach, the second an instant classic in East Lansing between a pair of top-10 teams. But the third, a resounding win for the Wolverines, was marred by a postgame incident in the Michigan Stadium tunnel when a group of Spartans ganged up to attack Michigan players as the two teams were headed to their locker rooms. Eight MSU players were ultimately suspended, seven of whom were charged with assault.
To cool some of the bad blood in the rivalry, Tucker was asked Wednesday if it would be help to give the game a one-year break.
"No, that’s never going to happen," he said. "That’s not even a reality. Why would we want to do that?"
Is it time to at least rein the rivalry in?
"How do you rein it in? I don’t know how you do that," Tucker said "There’s not a day that’s gone by that I haven’t heard something about that game. I mean, every day of my life I hear about that game, so I don’t know how you rein that in. It just is what it is.”
This year's game, Oct. 21 in East Lansing, is slated for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, the first-ever night tilt between the two teams at Spartan Stadium. Tensions will be high, emotions will be hot. Which is fine for Tucker, because it's exactly how a rivalry should feel.
"That's what's great about college football," Tucker said. "When you coach in Cleveland-Pittsburgh, Chicago-Green Bay, Alabama-Auburn, Georgia-Florida, Colorado-Nebraska, those are big games. I mean, that's why that's why we coach, that's why we play, to be in those games and to ultimately win those games. And oftentimes, you're judged by how you do in those games. So I think it's great."
Listen live to 97.1 The Ticket via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker