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Michigan State Football: 5 reasons Mark Dantonio must make change at OC

By Connor Muldowney

LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans walks on the field with the team before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Mark Dantonio of the Michigan State Spartans walks on the field with the team before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 10: Brian Lewerke #14 of the Michigan State Spartans throws a first half pass while playing the Ohio State Buckeyes at Spartan Stadium on November 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 10: Brian Lewerke #14 of the Michigan State Spartans throws a first half pass while playing the Ohio State Buckeyes at Spartan Stadium on November 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

3. Offense is making Brian Lewerke regress, suffer

Not many quarterbacks have suffered the kind of setbacks that Brian Lewerke has from his sophomore to his junior seasons, but having an offensive coordinator that didn’t play to his strengths and set him up to fail time after time by putting him in no-win third-and-long situations or running a new offense in the bowl game was worst-case scenario.

Lewerke’s game took a major step back in 2018 after he suffered an injury, but his offensive coordinator, and head coach, decided to play him through said injury and that did nothing but hurt the team as well as the junior gunslinger’s confidence.

Moreover, the offense was just archaic throughout the season and it didn’t get much better with Rocky Lombardi in there and it’s because the strengths were not taken advantage of. No quarterback is going to succeed when he constantly has to run for his life. Designing roll-outs to benefit agile quarterbacks would have been ideal as well as quick slants so the quarterbacks could get the ball out faster.

Speed was not utilized in the offense and the talent around Lewerke suffered as well. With guys like Jalen Nailor, Darrell Stewart Jr. and Cody White, you’d think the offense would put up 30-plus points per game based on speed and athleticism alone.

Not the case with Dave Warner running plays.

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