Michigan State vs Oregon: What worked and what didn’t against the Ducks

Sep 12, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) attempts to throw the ball against the Oregon Ducks during the 2nd half of a game at Spartan Stadium. MSU won 31-28. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan State beat the AP’s No. 7 team in the country, Oregon, and looked like the superior team in doing so. The Michigan State vs Oregon did not disappoint on Saturday night.

The Spartans are getting a lot of national love and even some reluctant respect from Detroit Free Press columnist and noted Big Ten basher, Drew Sharp.

But just as in the week before when we didn’t spew gloom and doom after a less than stellar performance against Western, this week we don’t simply linger on the good because the outcome was a fantastic one. We look at each position group and give them a kiss for the positive and a wish for the negative.

Quarterbacks

Connor Cook is now 25-3 as starter for Michigan State. In his weekly press conference prior to the Oregon game, head coach Mark Dantonio said of Connor Cook, “As he goes, we go.” And MSU went, so Cook must have led them there. Overall, Cook improved from his game against Western, but still has room to get better.

What went well: Improved accuracy

After completing fewer than 50 percent of his passes in the Spartans opener, Cook was 20-for-32 for a solid 62.5 percent completion rate. That’s not Heisman good or even Big Ten Player of the Year good, but it’s solid against an aggressive and sometimes confusing defense.

Sep 12, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) throws the ball against the Oregon Ducks during the 1st half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Cook seemed to be victimized by some lazy footwork on short passes that would have gone for first downs. He mostly eliminated the issues from the Western outing when he was sailing the ball too high, with a key exception being on his drive killing interception.

You look for progress from Game 1 to Game 2 and we saw that with Cook’s accuracy.

What didn’t: Throwing into double coverage

Cook has a ton of confidence in himself and that’s part of what makes him a great college quarterback.

It’s also what allows him to shake off those 1-or-2 mind-numbing mistakes he tends to make each game. One of the varieties of mistakes he makes is throwing into double coverage.

Some quarterbacks throw into double coverage because they don’t read the coverage correctly — see Vernon Adams’ interception to RJ Williamson — but for Cook, I believe he just thinks he’s good enough to beat double coverage, and sometimes he is.

However, at the beginning of the season he talked about taking the dump down pass when his first read or two are not there. Cook continues to throw into double coverage even when there are safety valves available for 5-to-7 yard gains.

Next: Running backs