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Michigan State’s QB situation unclear headed into Purdue game
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Brian Lewerke is still listed as Michigan State’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s matchup with Purdue, but an injury to his right shoulder could change the situation for the Spartans.
Lewerke sustained an injury to his throwing shoulder a few weeks ago in Michigan State’s upset win over Penn State. Because the Spartans were battling in-state rival Michigan last weekend, the quarterback wanted to be under center.
That could change this week, though.
At the end of the game against Michigan, backup quarterback Rocky Lombardi entered the game for the final three minutes. Now, it sounds like there’s a real chance that Lombardi could see more than a few snaps Saturday against the Boilermakers.
“First of all, Rocky gets all the reps,” Dantonio said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “He got all the reps last week as well a Theo Day. Brian’s got to be able to practice. That’s obviously noticeable from last week’s performance.”
Lewerke completed just 5-of-25 passes for 66 yards in Michigan State’s 21-7 loss to Michigan.
Dantonio said that Lewerke wasn’t able to practice and throw down the field leading up to the game against the Wolverines. That needs to change in order for the junior to be under center this weekend.
Although Lewerke was less than impressive in the game, Dantonio said the offense’s issues extended further than quarterback play.
“So, there’s a lot of different things going into this and I think he can be a very effective quarterback, but I do think he’s got to practice,” Dantonio said. “I know he feels better than he did last week. Hopefully that’ll happen. He did practice, but he wasn’t able to throw down the field. I thought he had velocity in the game. I didn’t think that was the problem in the game.”
The Spartans have four days to make a decision on Lewerke, and will probably use every second. It wouldn’t be surprising if Dantonio holds off until kickoff to make the choice.
Both Michigan State and Purdue enter Saturday’s game at 4-3.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB