Will the Michigan State Offense Return to Form?
The Michigan State offense hasn't been productive in a few years, especially when fans think of their passing attack.
Former Spartan Brian Lewerke took over for longtime starting quarterback Connor Cook, and unfortunately for Michigan State, its ability to gash opponents for big yardage downfield left with him.
It became such an issue; the Spartans went 30 consecutive games without completing a pass of 50 yards or more.
Without the balanced attack of passing and rushing the Spartans were successfully using for years under former head coach Mark Dantonio, the offense became nearly non-existent.
However, Michigan State wideout Jayden Reed believes the Spartans will be explosive through the air once again.
"I believe we can attack them vertically. We've already got good backs so we can spread them out; we also have some big, strong receivers where we can take the top off a little bit. I think vertically, that will be a huge change from this year to last year – vertical threats, I believe, in my opinion," Reed told reporters on Monday.
The last time MSU ran an elite offense onto the field was 2014 – they finished 11-2 (7-1 B1G) and beat Baylor in the Cotton Bowl, 42-41.
Since then, the Spartans have slowly regressed, starting in 2015, when Michigan State beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game and reached the College Football Playoff.
Spartan Nation ran the numbers below:
2014 Michigan State Offense
- Total Offense: No. 11
- Passing Offense: No. 35
- Team Passing Efficiency: No. 22
- Scoring Offense: No. 7 (43.0 ppg)
2015 Michigan State Offense
- Total Offense: No. 73
- Passing Offense: No. 55
- Team Passing Efficiency: No.52
- Scoring Offense: No. 60 (29.8 ppg)
2016 Michigan State Offense
- Total Offense: No. 75
- Passing Offense: No. 74
- Team Passing Efficiency: No. 72
- Scoring Offense: No. 104 (24.1 ppg)
2017 Michigan State Offense
- Total Offense: No. 91
- Passing Offense: No. 76
- Team Passing Efficiency: No. 87
- Scoring Offense: No. 96 (24.5 ppg)
2018 Michigan State Offense
- Total Offense: No. 116
- Passing Offense: No. 77
- Team Passing Efficiency: No. 126
- Scoring Offense: No. 125 (18.7 ppg)
2019 Michigan State Offense
- Total Offense: No. 95
- Passing Offense: No. 55
- Team Passing Efficiency: No. 102
- Scoring Offense: No. 105 (22.4 ppg)
Connor Cook's final year in Spartan Stadium would be the last time Michigan State's passing offense looked the part.
Reed will be a significant difference-maker for MSU in 2020, but will it be enough?
With Darrell Stewart Jr. and Cody White in the NFL, he'll have plenty of opportunities to show it is.
MSU running back Elijah Collins talked about his teammate saying, "He's a phenomenal athlete. He can make plays when he has the ball when he doesn't have the ball … He's one to look out for."
It all starts with the quarterback position; following a series of injuries in 2018 (after leading MSU to a 10-3 record the year before), Lewerke was never the same.
If Rocky Lombardi can stay healthy, maybe things will change.
He has the most experience on the team, and no matter how limited, it will probably be enough to start against Rutgers in week one.
But will Lombardi bring Michigan State closer to where they were in 2014? Or are they destined to move further and further away from where they once stood?
We'll see come kickoff.
Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
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