Michigan State Football Mailbag: What sparked offensive outburst?

As we enter the third week of the regular season, we sit down and open up the Michigan State football mailbag. What’s on your mind this week?

Michigan State took care of a lackluster Western Michigan team in Week 2 and moves on to face a 2-0 Arizona State team that beat the Spartans in Tempe a year ago.

Let’s take a look at your questions in this week’s mailbag as we head into the final non-conference game.

An easy answer? All of the above, like you said. What I truly believe? Mark Dantonio tore into his players enough at the team meeting after last week’s game and laid out what he expected from them after a lazy Tulsa performance and they answered the call. Couple that with the offensive line doing a complete 180, Eli Collins stepping up as the No. 1 back, Brian Lewerke playing well and the receivers running crips routes — oh and the unis — and you had the recipe for success.

It all starts with the line, so that was a big reason for the success, but I also thought Brad Salem called a heck of a game. The players have bought in and you’re starting to see that.

I’m not sure I’d just hand the short-yardage back spot to La’Darius Jefferson just yet, though he did look good at the goal-line, but that’s a fair assumption. I think we might see Connor Heyward lined up in the slot a little more moving forward as he has some incredible hands and could be utilized better as a big-bodied pass-catcher which could open up a spot for Anthony Williams Jr. to get some reps as the No. 3 back. A Williams-Collins duo would be fantastic for this up-tempo offense.

This is a tough one. Western Michigan wasn’t great in the trenches, but Tulsa wasn’t exactly Alabama up front, either. It’s all about confidence. If the team can carry that confidence over into Week 3 against Arizona State and continue to build on it, I think the offense will look pretty good this year. The Arizona State game is actually huge for the offensive line and run game because the season’s offensive success could hinge on it. I’ll put the chances that it continues at 60 percent.

I’m definitely still high on the secondary and this dink-and-dunk passing game has given Michigan State fits for years. Northwestern will run the same offense against the Spartans, but at least they’ll be prepared. I think as long as the defense can adjust mid-game to this short passing game and start pressing, there shouldn’t be any major issues. Luckily, the defensive backs don’t often get beat deep and I’ve actually been impressed with Josh Butler despite a couple of pass interferences. If he learns to keep his hands off the receiver, he’ll be good because he stays in his guy’s pocket all the way down the field, step-for-step.

The group has plenty of talent, but the short game needs to be addressed.

Again, this is a tough one to answer. It all depends on what team comes out against Arizona State. If it’s still the confident Spartans we saw against Western, I think the season will only get better but if it’s the lazy team we saw versus Tulsa, it’ll be a long year. I’m leaning more toward the offense we saw against Western, but still expect some growing pains throughout the year.

I think we saw a good chunk of the offense last week against Western Michigan. Obviously there’s more to the playbook, but that’s about as revealing as the staff is going to be in non-conference play. Unless the Spartans are tied or losing late in the game, I’d expect to see more of what we witnessed against the Broncos.

Rocky Lombardi is a good football player. Is he a great passer? Right now we just don’t know. He played well against Purdue last year, but had a couple of shaky performances filling in for Brian Lewerke. He has a strong arm and he just needs to work on that accuracy. Do I think he can be a solid quarterback here? Absolutely, but he’s raw. He’s definitely more than capable to do other things than 3rd-and-1 option plays.

I think his dedication to finishing law school takes up a lot of his time and Mark Dantonio has even said he’s been nicked up a bit. I think he’ll see more action in the coming weeks, but he may have been missing too much practice with law school and injuries to trust him in that regular role. He’ll ease back into the rotation and be a solid option for Lewerke.

Actually a good question. The defense actually does a really good job covering the flats and running backs out of the backfield and it was the 5-10 yard passes against Western that hurt them. Rarely did the Broncos dish it to the running back out of the backfield in the passing game — it just wasn’t open. Expect an aggressive plan from the linebackers to limit Eno Benjamin’s catches via screen and bubble pass. I’d expect Antjuan Simmons to be the cover guy on him.

As for his rushing prowess, the Spartans need to follow the same blueprint as least year when they held him to peanuts on the ground. They shouldn’t have a problem swallowing him up between the tackles, especially with Arizona State’s struggling offensive line, and the linebackers are quick enough to shut down the outside runs.

Definitely a relief for Spartan fans to see that 5-1 on the board at the end of the game, but this is a good question. A reasonable output against opponents with a pulse? If the offense plays with confidence like it did against Western, I’d say scoring about 30-35 is reasonable. This team isn’t going to just turn into an offensive juggernaut overnight, but it’s on the right path.

https://twitter.com/willyshaf82/status/1171154140157939715?s=20

Definitely doesn’t “hate” him but I know what you’re getting at. I think on the play where he got down to the 1-yard-line, he took a decent hit and had to come out (just what it looked like to me). And he wanted to get Alante Thomas a score since he’s been in the program as a behind the scenes guy for so long. He’ll get in the end zone and he’ll stop getting his touchdowns vultured soon enough.

Best hair would probably have to be a tie between Darrell Stewart Jr. and Rocky Lombardi. They’re both great in different ways.

Always my favorite question to answer each week, but I’d say it doesn’t bother me, Brandon. It’s not bad — not bad at all.

And that does it for this week’s mailbag. Don’t forget to check out the Spartan Avenue Twitter account each Sunday or Monday for the mailbag tweet so you can send us your questions.