Michigan State Football: Brian Lewerke can turn offense around in 2019

If Michigan State football has an offensive turnaround in 2019, it will be because a healthy Brian Lewerke found his confidence again.

Social media can be a cruel beast, but that’s not the reason Brian Lewerke’s confidence has been shattered this season. Michigan State’s junior quarterback was coming off a big season in 2017 where he led the Spartans to 10 wins and nearly hit 3,000 yards through the air, but he looked off for the majority of the season, dating back to the Arizona State game.

Against Utah State, Lewerke looked solid, passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns, completing about 70 percent of his throws. He then followed that up with a 314-yard, one-touchdown outing in a tough loss to Arizona State on the road, but he took a big hit in that one and didn’t quite look the same after.

Lewerke struggled against Indiana, Northwestern and Penn State, going 2-1 in that stretch, before suffering through the ugliest game of his career — Michigan.

In the loss to the Wolverines, Lewerke went 5-for-25 for 66 yards and lost 11 yards on the ground before getting yanked in favor of Rocky Lombardi. It was a surprising decision given his success with the program, but the young quarterback just didn’t look right, and hadn’t for about a month.

After the game, it was revealed that he hadn’t participated in practice all week and it was up to him and his parents if he were to take the field — he ultimately decided to.

Since then, his confidence has been in a downward spiral and his arm hasn’t looked right, either. He doesn’t have the same zip on the ball nor are his passes anywhere near the intended targets. He’s completed just 22-of-49 passes since that Michigan game with 215 yards and three touchdowns, but has given way to Lombardi — who has also struggled, but he’s healthy.

The immediate future of this lethargic Michigan State offense lies on the arm — and shoulder — of Lewerke.

When healthy, he’s clearly the No. 1 option and potentially a top-three quarterback in the conference. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that since the first couple weeks of the season.

The offense in 2019 will return essentially everyone, with the exception of Matt Sokol and Felton Davis III. Cody White will be back, Matt Dotson (hopefully with more confidence and better hands) will return, the trio of Jalen Nailor, Cam Chambers and Darrell Stewart are also back. LJ Scott is getting a fifth year, Connor Heyward will be back as a skill position piece and La’Darius Jefferson will have a year of experience under his belt.

The offensive line brings back Luke Campbell, Cole Chewins, Kevin Jarvis, Matt Allen and Tyler Higby as this unit will hopefully be stronger and more cohesive.

Talent is not lacking on this side of the ball and a change at offensive coordinator would help, but Lewerke will be responsible for a turnaround.

Sure, it’s a year away, but if he has a strong offseason of rehabbing the shoulder (hopefully in lieu of bowl prep), Lewerke could get back to his 2017 form with better accuracy. He can turn this offense around, but he needs to block out the noise and focus on himself.

He has the talent to make the turnaround, but he can’t get in his own head.