Michigan State football couldn't play Saturday, but they were plenty busy that day

It was an unexpected pause but one anyone who has followed college football this fall should have known would come.

Michigan State football’s canceled game due to Maryland’s continuing COVID-19 outbreak did come at an opportune moment for coach Mel Tucker. Even if he and his players tried to artificially amp up the rhetoric after getting blown out 24-0 to Indiana on Nov. 14.

“Nothing changes,” senior linebacker Antjuan Simmons said after that loss. “We still have a game to play next week. We still got four more games. We got a long season ahead of us. We just gotta keep playing. We just gotta keep fighting and keep playing to execute our game plan.”

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There are technically four games still remaining for the Spartans (1-3), the plus-one against a to-be-determined Big Ten West opponent after the regular season currently planned for Dec. 19. Barring any other disruptions, this unplanned bye week becomes the midpoint of MSU’s schedule.

And it comes at the perfect moment for Tucker’s program.

It allowed for a weekend of studying film to self-evaluate, as well as practices Friday, Saturday and Sunday that honed in on revisiting fundamentals and techniques players need to work on.

“That’s what we do here,” Simmons said. “We’re gonna work and we’re gonna get better. That’s all we can do is work.”

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Health also became a factor for MSU after playing the Hoosiers without three starters in the secondary and three more out on offense. While MSU is not giving an inkling who has to sit out 21 days after a positive COVID test, most of those missing appeared to be injured in previous games. Getting them back is almost as important as getting younger players game reps.

And that has been an emphasis for Tucker and his staff the past two games. But every practice is just as important right now after missing spring workouts and the stopping and starting of fall camp. While it might seem passé to keep mentioning that, no team in the Big Ten -- perhaps nationally -- had to replace a coach in February and try to install new systems on offense and defense without any significant in-person contact until September.

“It’s certainly challenging for many reasons,” Tucker said Thursday on his weekly radio show. “But that’s one of the most rewarding and gratifying parts about being a coach-- to be able to teach, motivate and develop players. I just love to see the young guys get out there and compete in practice and earn some time in the game. And when they have success in the game, it just kind of snowballs.”

Speaking of snowballs, in comes No. 13 Northwestern this week with an avalanche of momentum. The Wildcats are 5-0 and leading the Big Ten West and have won four of the last six meetings with MSU.

While Northwestern was busy manhandling Wisconsin, 17-7, on Saturday, the Spartans worked out at home inside the Duffy Daugherty Football Building, preparing for their upcoming opponent. MSU’s social media showed Tucker teaching players in hand and footwork drills. He said Thursday the plan was to work the players out with helmets, shorts and jerseys first, then give the second- and third-string players more a chance to work in full pads to build technique. Sunday was a recovery workout, and everything was supposed to return to normal schedule Monday.

Or whatever normal is in 2020.

“We'll be ready for whatever is thrown our way,” sophomore receiver Jayden Reed said.

There is no time for much beyond class and football right now in the Spartans’ world. Not even Thanksgiving will disrupt Tucker’s process of trying to revive MSU and get the Spartans to start playing better football after losing its past two games by a combined 73-7 score.

Because, frankly, his team needs all the work it can get right now.

“We’ve already told the players Thanksgiving, because of the COVID situation … this year is gonna be basically a Power Point in a team that says Happy Thanksgiving with a turkey on there,” he said. “And then we’re gonna keep rolling.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football couldn't play Saturday, but they were plenty busy that day

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