Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Michigan State season with what you need to know and keys to the season.
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Michigan State Spartans Preview
Head Coach: Mel Tucker, 3rd year at Michigan State, 13-7
4th year overall, 18-14, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 11-2, Conference: 7-2
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan State Top 10 Players
Michigan State Schedule & Analysis
Michigan State Spartans Preview 2022
As the man said, you are what your record says you are.
Michigan State was 11-2 in Mel Tucker’s second season with the program. It beat Michigan for the second year in a row, it beat Penn State, and it went on to beat Pitt in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Give Tucker and the Spartans all the credit for finding a way to get it done. You don’t luck your way into 11 wins and a New Year’s Six win, but …
Beating Miami wasn’t that big a deal, the schedule was loaded with layups until late October, the Spartans got a few massive breaks against Michigan, go totally annihilated by Ohio State and walloped by Purdue, got Penn State – and Michigan – in East Lansing, and Pitt not having Kenny Pickett turned out to be a gigantic deal. And …
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 – and doing it with the nation’s worst pass defense and the worst overall D in the Big Ten.
This time around the Spartans get Wisconsin and Minnesota from the West. They have to go on the road to Michigan and Penn State, going to Maryland will be tough, and going to Washington won’t be a breeze. Fortunately, Tucker just upgraded his team to be a whole lot better for what’s coming.
Most teams get guys from the transfer portal to fill holes. Tucker and Michigan State got stars, with at least eight about to play major roles at an all-star level.
Combine the new guys with an already terrific base that was rudely snubbed by the Big Ten all-star types, and continue with the attitude of being disrespected in its own division in the preseason prognostications, and there’s a great blend of things happening.
There’s no down time here, and there’s no grace period. The great strength of the Mark Dantonio was the consistency – his teams found ways to get the job done, too. Now it’s up to Tucker and his Spartans to not only show that same high-level consistency, but to take it up a few notches.
11-2 last year? A whole lot of things went right. Go 11-2 this year? Then the record will really and truly show what Michigan State football is.
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Michigan State Top 10 Players
Michigan State Schedule & Analysis