Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Michigan State

WATCH: Mel Tucker discusses how Michigan State can avoid 'rat traps' ahead of scrimmage

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz08/18/22NickSchultz_7
michigan-state-spartans-head-coach-mel-tucker-names-his-biggest-coaching-influence-nick-saban-kirby-smart-alabama-georgia-lsu
Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Mel Tucker worked for a year under Nick Saban at Alabama, meaning he probably heard a lot about “rat poison” in Tuscaloosa. But the Michigan State head coach is apparently taking a different spin on that analogy, telling his team to avoid “rat traps.”

During an interview with Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine, Tucker shared what he wants to see from his group ahead of Saturday’s scrimmage. He said he mainly wants to see the practice techniques translate into the game-like situation and see if his players can avoid getting caught in a trap.

“We want to see guys take it from the practice field into the scrimmage,” Tucker said. “We don’t want them to go [into a] rat trap. Whatever we coached throughout the week, just put it out there on Saturday. If the guys can do it in the scrimmage, they can do it in a game.”

Tucker then explained what makes a “rat trap” in Michigan State, and he made an interesting comparison to illustrate that.

“[A] ‘rat trap’ is where two plus two is four all week and then you get into a game and two plus two is something different,” Tucker said. “It’s like, ‘What are we doing?'”

The Spartans are coming off a huge year in Tucker’s second season at the helm, going 11-2 overall to earn a Peach Bowl appearance. They’ll start their quest to repeat that success on Sept. 2 against Western Michigan.

Michigan State will have some new faces in the backfield this season

Some of the biggest changes for Michigan State will come at running back. Kenneth Walker III is now in the NFL and Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard are in, and Mel Tucker spoke highly of his newcomers at big Ten Media Days last month.

“Berger came us to midyear,” Tucker said. “We got him in January. He’s a very talented young man, very talented. He really bought in right away to our culture and what we’re all about. He’s really started to bond with his teammates, and he’s really opened up. So we’ve gotten to know him over these past several months, and he is a very versatile guy. He’s an excellent runner, and he’s excellent in terms of receiving the ball out of the backfield. He’s a competitor, and I’m glad we got him.

“Jarek Broussard, he played for us at Colorado when I was there. Tremendous, tremendous back. Also excellent ball skills, can catch the ball out of the backfield. Super hyper-competitive. We got him this summer, and he’s a guy that can do a lot of things. Those two guys were obviously portal guys for us that made our team better and made our running back room more competitive.”