Michigan State Football: 5 key players to watch against Indiana

Oct 10, 2015; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Michigan State Spartans punter Jake Hartbarger (25) punts the ball during the second quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Points Solutions Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

3. Jake Hartbarger

Special teams are important this week, Spartan Nation. I think it is safe to say that Michigan State would have been in a more comfortable position and not needed to return a muffed punt to win the game had the special teams played better. This unit was the only unit to be outplayed by the Wolverines but it was by a large margin until the last play of the game.

Against the Wolverines, freshman punter Jake Hartbarger lost his job to backup quarterback Tyler O’Connor. Coach Dantonio stated that he went with O’Connor because he wanted the threat of a fake as well as he was worried about Hartbarger handling the snaps.

The O’Connor experiment did not work. He was unsuccessful on a fake try and his punts were short and did not have hang time which often left the return team out to dry. He’s clearly still a quarterback, not a punter.

While I hope Jake’s use is minimal because the offense is scoring so many points, I do want to see him regain his early season form. MSU needs to win the field position battle and Jake needs to pin Indiana deep to force the Hoosiers to establish long drives against the Spartan defense, essentially the exact opposite of what happened against Michigan.

Next: 2. Macgarrett Kings Jr.