Michigan State Football: 5 reasons Spartans can still win Big Ten title

2. Brian Lewerke is getting better by the week

There were plenty of haters around Saturday night to knock the play of Brian Lewerke following the loss to Northwestern, but the fact of the matter is that he played the best game of his young career. In fact, Lewerke passed for a school-record 445 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another 30 to lead the team.

Sure, he made one of the worst decisions of his career in the third overtime when he picked up his own fumble, scrambled to his left and threw across his body to the end zone in double coverage. He was obviously picked off to end the game, but he was trying to be a hero — like he had been in the fourth quarter and overtime to that point.

Lewerke played great and that’s something fans loved to see. He finally took over a game with his arm, which has been a long time coming. He’s developing into a solid passer at the right time and is only going to continue to improve.

Remember, this is the time in the careers of Connor Cook and Kirk Cousins that they really started to take off and become elite passers. Also, we can’t forget that they, too, made silly mistakes in their first years at quarterback.

With Lewerke improving, this offense could finally take off.