Michigan State Football: Report card for Notre Dame win

Is Tyler O’Connor great? Not yet. Is he a serviceable starter who can be relied on? Absolutely. However, his performance against Notre Dame didn’t exactly blow anyone away. He had a tremendous stat line with 241 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-26 completions, but he made a couple of questionable decisions.

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A few times, O’Connor was trying to force throws into double coverage and one of them even led to a Daelin Hayes’ tipped pass and interception by Devin Studstill at the Spartans’ goal line. That was a momentum killer and halted a drive that looked to end in a score.

On multiple other occasions, he either under threw his receivers or he missed wide open players streaking toward the end zone. His long ball definitely needs some work as he tossed a couple of ducks into the air. He missed Corley on a deep post and decided to run instead, picking up a couple of yards, and under-shot Shelton which should have been a touchdown but he luckily got a pass interference call.

Unlike Cook, O’Connor can run effectively and pick up positive yards. He did look to run far more than he should have, though. He finished with 43 yards on 10 carries, but he needs to learn to be more confident in the pocket and not tuck and run before he lets receivers run their routes.

Still, road wins against Ohio State and Notre Dame in his first three starts prove he’s a viable option under center.