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Michigan State Football: 5 keys for making College Football Playoff in 2018

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - OCTOBER 29: LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a first quarter touchdown while playing the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium on October 29, 2016 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - OCTOBER 29: LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a first quarter touchdown while playing the Michigan Wolverines at Spartan Stadium on October 29, 2016 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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ANN ARBOR, MI – OCTOBER 07: Brian Lewerke #14 of the Michigan State Spartans runs for a first down during the second quarter of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan State defeated Michigan 14-10.(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI – OCTOBER 07: Brian Lewerke #14 of the Michigan State Spartans runs for a first down during the second quarter of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan State defeated Michigan 14-10.(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

2. Brian Lewerke’s accuracy

Accuracy hasn’t quite been one of the strongest assets of Brian Lewerke since he stepped foot on campus back in 2015, but it’s also not a major weakness.

In fact, Lewerke completed about 54 percent of his passes as a redshirt freshman in limited time back in 2016 and then raised the bar to 59 percent as a sophomore. A five percent increase is nothing to overlook, but he still fell short of that elusive 60 percent mark — a good measurement for accurate college quarterbacks.

The junior gunslinger has made it his goal this fall to reach a 60 and even 65 percent completion rate, which would do wonders for his numbers. Just think of it this way, if Lewerke completed 65 percent of his passes in 2017, he would have hit about 25 more targets which would equal about 283 more yards, considering his yards per completion average. That means he would have surpassed the 3,000-yard mark and likely would have added a couple more touchdowns.

First off, the coaching staff needs to let Lewerke air it out a little more and second, he needs to take advantage of his elite receiving corps.

If he can improve that accuracy by another five percent in 2018, we could be looking at an All-Big Ten first-teamer and potential All-American.

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