Michigan State now riding positive momentum
In the up-and-down world of college football, Michigan State is once again feeling pretty good about itself only a week after suffering a deflating defeat at the hands of rival Michigan.
That’s because the Spartans are fresh off an impressive 23-13 win over Purdue thanks to the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Rocky Lombardi and another solid defensive performance. Lombardi made his first career start in place of junior Brian Lewerke, who injured his shoulder two weeks ago at Penn State.
It had coach Mark Dantonio talking about Michigan State “enlarging our territory a little bit.”
“If we fell back to 4-4, we’re not playing for as much as we move forward. We’re a little bit off the charts,” Dantonio said. “At 5-3, who knows what can happen. It sets up possibly winning up to 10 games, including a bowl game or beyond, I don’t know.”
It’s the beyond that might be stretching things. Just winning the Big Ten East is a reach. It would almost certainly mean running the table and hoping for two Michigan losses. But it’s the feeling that has changed in one week, one that has the Spartans thinking big instead of being lost.
“Just watching football last night, in a good mood as a matter of fact, I saw so many different teams that were 5-3, 6-2 and have a tough schedule ahead of them. So, a lot of things can happen and we’re in a situation in November now where we can play our way into something special.
“But I thought that we made ourselves a little bit more, somewhat important. I thought we took a step forward and made people take notice. I think most people thought Purdue was going to come in here and play us out, if you looked at it nationally and based on what they were doing. So, it was a good moment for everybody.”
One of the key reasons it became a good moment for the Spartans was the play of Lombardi. Entering the game, he’d thrown just two passes in his career, both coming in mop-up time last week in the loss to Michigan.
But he never looked overwhelmed against the Boilermakers as he took over for the injured Brian Lewerke, and he said afterward that it only took a couple of throws for him to find a rhythm.
“I think Rocky is an emotional guy having his first start and I thought he brought a little extra,” Dantonio said. “He is like that. He is a dependable leader and studies the game hard and prepared himself for this moment. So. when his moment came he was ready.”
How Dantonio and his staff handle the quarterback situation this week as Michigan State travels to Maryland will be the main storyline with the program. Lewerke was outstanding last season in his first as Michigan State’s starter but has struggled in 2018. It hasn’t all been on him as the Spartans have lost more than their share of players on offense to injury, but he has thrown seven interceptions, the same number he threw all of last season.
And while it was hard to prove with sheer numbers, the offense had a spark with Lombardi. Dantonio is confident there will be no problems in the locker room, but he isn’t committing to either player at this point.
“In our quarterback room, (quarterback coach) Brad Salem does an outstanding job with those guys,” Dantonio said. “It’s a tight room and they’re all in it together. There is no animosity or things like that in that room.
“I thought Brian did a great job all week long, taking snaps and doing the things he could do and then also supporting Rocky. I’m in the quarterback meeting room a lot and it’s a give-and-take-type relationship with those guys. Very, very positive.”
