Michigan State Football: 5 overreactions from Minnesota win in Week 7

4. Coaches don’t trust Brian Lewerke’s arm

While it might seem like the case given the fact that Brian Lewerke hasn’t attempted more than 30 passes since the Notre Dame game, the staff knew that the ground game was working, so it stuck with LJ Scott and Madre London-based plays. Unfortunately, that sacrificed Lewerke’s stat line.

In fact, Lewerke was just 9-of-18 for 120 yards and an interception, throwing the ball into coverage a couple of times. It could be argued that he was close to throwing three interceptions on the night. Does that mean the coaching staff doesn’t trust him? No, it just means that they realized it wasn’t the best weather to be slinging the ball in.

The game start in a downpour once again, even getting delayed by 45 minutes. The field conditions were slippery and the ball was tough to hold on to. He didn’t make the best reads on some of his throws, but then he did fit the ball into tight windows on others.

Lewerke needs to gain some confidence in himself before facing teams like Penn State and Ohio State, but the staff trusts him plenty. Sometimes it’s about feeling the direction the game is headed in and the staff felt that running the ball effectively trumped trying to sling it around.