Let’s be honest.

Last season, Michigan State’s offense was a disaster. Look at any statistic or national ranking you want to. The Spartans were not good offensively. Injuries were certainly a part of that.

But, that wasn’t the sole reason for the poor performance.

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Coming into this season, Michigan State’s offense is undergoing a bit of a remodel. Assistant coaches from a year ago are the same, but they are in different spots within the staff. What does that mean for the offense?

Tulsa coach Phillip Montgomery isn’t quite sure. Tulsa faces Michigan State to open the season on Aug. 30 in East Lansing.

“I think they’re narrowing all that down right now and I’m sure they’re establishing their identity of what they want to be on offense,” Montgomery said on Thursday. “But, from a preparation standpoint, it makes it a little bit more difficult.”

Here’s more from Montgomery:

“The crazy part as you kind of go through the scenarios of it – they have all the same (offensive coaches) yet they’re all in different spots,” Montgomery said. “So, trying to gauge exactly what they’re going to do offensively, whether they’re going to be a heavy 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends) or a 21 personnel (two running backs and one tight end) team, are they going to try to spread it out a little bit more? We’ve got to work all those scenarios in there.”

Montgomery isn’t wrong here. Sure, a year ago, Michigan State struggled offensively. But if things change this season in game one, how can you really prepare? New pitchers in baseball typically do well in their first few starts if they have talent. Why?

Because opposing coaches and hitter don’t have tape and tendencies to study on the pitcher. At times, new quarterbacks can have initial success. Why? Because opposing defensive coordinators and players aren’t 100 percent sure what the signal-caller brings to the table.

The same may be occurring here for Tulsa.

More from Montgomery about the Michigan State matchup can be found here via mlive.com.