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EAST LANSING — Maverick Hansen approached his fellow Michigan State football captains Sunday. They agreed.
Saturday’s loss to Michigan proved a pivotal moment for a players-only meeting.
“We just had to talk about things that aren’t going so well with the team right now,” quarterback Aidan Chiles said Tuesday. “We gotta figure things out.”
In reality, every day after practice in the locker room is solace for a team away from coaches. So whenever word of a players-only gathering emerges, a knee-jerk reaction is to think the worst.
Yet there are two types of players meetings: The more serious ones often address discord within the team. These Spartans do not appear to be dealing with those issues.
The second reason is to maintain focus and prevent a fracture in advance. And Hansen’s call to his teammates represented a moment where MSU understands its 24-17 loss to the Wolverines — with yet another physical confrontation following their emotional rivalry game — does not define this team.
Michigan State players take the field for warmups, among them safety Malik Spencer (43), before the Michigan game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.
Hansen is a sixth-year senior who bridges the gap between the Mark Dantonio era of expected success through the tumultuous highs and lows under Mel Tucker to now being a vital voice for new coach Jonathan Smith. Hansen has experienced the old Dantonio aphorism: November is a season unto itself. And four games remain to get the Spartans where they want to be in Smith’s first year.
This month becomes a playoff chase for MSU (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten). Not for a spot in the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff, though that was never the expectation. A road loss at Boston College began a three-game losing streak to end any far-fetched dreams, and included…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-sent-message-players-100823070.html
Author : Detroit Free Press
Publish date : 2024-11-02 10:08:23
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