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Michigan State football: Should injured Lewerke have even played against Michigan?
By Tom Brew
Published:
The numbers didn’t lie, and they were awful. Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke had one tough day against Michigan’s No. 1-ranked defense last Saturday.
The veteran quarterback was just 5-for-25 passing for 66 yards in the tough 21-7 loss to their arch rivals. You can give credit to Michigan’s defense, and you can give credit to Lewerke for trying to gut it out, despite playing with a bad injury to his right shoulder. That is his throwing shoulder, folks.
But the bigger question remains. Should Lewerke have been playing at all?
It’s 20/20 hindsight, of course, but it sure seemed like it was the wrong decision, at least based on the result.
“I have faith in our other quarterbacks too, but I’m always going to give our guy a chance that he’s put himself in a situation where he’s proven himself and I think that he’s done that for us,” Dantonio said of Lewerke, who’s played in 24 games for his coach since 2016. “That’s the reason we stayed with him.
“I’ve always believed in him, I’ve always felt like he’s got a great demeanor — I’ve always said that. He’s a confident guy on the field and off the field, and he can roll with things. If he does have a bad moment, I’ve always believed that he could respond.”
Lewerke, coming off a great 2017 season where he helped the Spartans get back to a bowl game after that ugly 2016 season, finished Saturday’s game competing just 20 percent of his passes. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was the lowest completion percentage for a Big Ten quarterback who attempted at least 20 passes in the last 20 years.
With Lewerke injured all week, redshirt freshman backup Rocky Lombardi and true freshman Theo Day both took a lot of snaps during the week. Lombardi took over for Lewerke late in the fourth quarter against Michigan. He finished 1-for-2 passing for 9 yards.
Playing Lewerke was a game-time decision, one that he also lobbied hard for. This was, after all, a huge rivalry game and he was going to do anything he could to lead the Spartans to a win over hated Michigan. It’s just didn’t happen.
“I don’t want to make excuses with that,” Lewerke said after the game about the injury. “With the adrenaline, obviously my arm didn’t feel 100 percent. I’m not sure exactly a number, but definitely not 100. Obviously it probably affected it a little bit, but not to be as bad as I played.”
If it had been anyone but Michigan, he probably wouldn’t have played.
“I mean, if it was another team — obviously, like Coach D said, I didn’t practice all week. I didn’t want to miss this game, for sure. It was a game-time decision, to be honest with you. I just tried to go play it by ear and see how it felt.
“… I did the best I could”
That’s true, and you won’t get a lot of criticism from me on that. He’s a tough kid and a team leader. He wanted to play, and he wanted to do his part. He can never be faulted for that.
It just didn’t work. And it was obvious it wasn’t going to work, so that’s where the only criticism lies, with Dantonio. Should have have switched up earlier?
Maybe it was a no-win situation, because the freshman quarterbacks with no Big Ten experience weren’t going to be successful against Michigan’s tough defense, either.
But going forward, starting this week against a suddenly scary good Purdue team, we might have to look at the situation differently. Lewerke could be feeling a lot better Saturday, but he also might not. Getting Lombardi and Stewart ready has more of a sense of urgency now.
Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.