EAST LANSING - A quarter of the way through the 2018 season, Brian Lewerke is making good on his goal to improve his completion percentage over last year.
He wants more improvement in that area, while Mark Dantonio would like for him to become sharper in risk assessment.
Lewerke ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten in passing yards per game (271, up from 214 a year ago).
He ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten in pass efficiency (145.2, up from 127.7 a year ago, which ranked No. 7 in the Big Ten).
Those core numbers will likely decline as the conference season hits full gear and opposing defenses become stronger, as will those of his Big Ten QB peers. His ranking in relation to other Big Ten QBs is worth noting, at the season’s quarter pole.
Two statistics jump of the page when looking at Lewerke’s performance thus far:
1. He is completing 65.9 percent of his passes, up from 59 percent a year ago.
Sixty-five percent isn’t a whopping number, but it’s certainly a good figure for a QB operating in pro style system who doesn’t get to beef up his numbers on bubble screen after bubble screen.
That being said, he has benefitted from a steady dose of pop-pass sweeps, which are essentially end-around runs but count as completed forward passes.
Completion percentages aside, Lewerke feels he should be connecting on more passes.
“It’s been decent,” Lewerke said of his accuracy. “There were good conditions to throw the football (in games thus far), so I have to complete more when I can.”
He has missed high more often, so far this year, than has been the case in the past. If he tightens up some of his correctable throws, his statistics - and MSU’s offense - will improve.
2. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is an inefficent 5-to-4. Last year, his ratio was a healthy 20-to-7.
Last weekend at Indiana, he threw two interceptions. One was a deep pass on third-and-eight that essentially served as a good punt, with an Indiana defensive back making the pick and being downed inside the Hoosiers’ 10-yard line.
Lewerke wasn’t pleased with that throw at the time, but came to terms with it after watching the film.
“It’s never as bad as what it seems like,” he said. “The interception on the deep ball to Cody White was just a great catch by the DB. He reached back with one hand. It was a great play. I probably could have thrown in farther. My accuracy could have been better.”
The other interception came on a throwback screen, deep in Michigan State territory. Leaky pass protection was a factor in that play, and his other shaky decision of the night.
On the interception, right tackle Jordan Reid allowed pressure from the outside. Lewerke hurried his throw while standing on the goal line, trying to make a play.
Stop right there, and assess.
Leading 28-7 in the last minute of the third quarter, the risk of attempting that pass was greater than the reward. Michigan State didn’t NEED a completion and a first down at that juncture.
A week later, from the safety of the QB film room, it seemed clear that grounding the ball at the running back’s feet for a safe incompletion was probably the wisest choice.
But Lewerke is a swashbuckler. His best play of the season last year might have been the scrambling, daring, against-the-grain dart to the back of the end zone against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl. Attempting that pass might not have been a good idea. But he turned into a highlight.
After the interception at Indiana deep in Spartan territory, MSU’s defense held and forced a field goal after that interception.
But Lewerke wasn’t done swashbuckling.
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
On third-and-five with Michigan State leading 28-18 and 6:08 to play, Lewerke attempted a risky pass to the right flat which, thankfully for Michigan State fans, found the ground for an incompletion with an Indiana defensive back diving nearby. When the pass left Lewerke’s hands, the chances of a pick-six were probably greater than a completion for first-down yardage.
On that play, Lewerke faced pressure in his face as Reid was beaten to the inside. Left tackle Tyler Higby was beaten to the outside, resulting in pressure to Lewerke’s blind side.
Coaches watched film and saw Felton Davis, normally Lewerke’s security-blanket target on third downs, open on a shallow crossing route. But Lewerke may not have had time to check all of the routes, and chose the dangerous throw to the wide side of the field.
"Brian is trying to create and make play, and sometimes when you do that, you're going to make some great plays and some other times you're going to get in bad situations,” Dantonio said. “He's got to know when to check the ball down. He's got some guys coming on short crossers that he's got to hit that are open. He has held the ball a little bit too long.
“They made a couple nice plays on some interceptions, and you know, you've got to play with those. But obviously you don't want to give the ball up in turnovers."
AND THE FUMBLE
In the final two minutes, Michigan State elected to go for it on fourth-and-one at the Indiana 36-yard line, protecting a 14-point lead. Offensive coordinator Dave Warner called for a speed option, which has become a short-yardage go-to play for Michigan State.
Indiana defended it well and Lewerke was in the midst of being tackled short of first-down yardage when he decided to fling a desperation pitch in the direction of running back La’Darius Jefferson.
The pitch became a fumble, which was recovered by Indiana, again - thankfully for Michigan State - by a ground-bound Hoosier. If the Hoosier had been able to field the ball on the bounce and take off running, it would have been a 7-point game with 2:00 to play and Michigan State needing a play from its hands team on an onside kick.
Three days after the game, the swashbuckling Lewerke was still comfortable with this decision. One game earlier, he had completed another daring, dazzling late option pitch to Jefferson for a big gain as Michigan State drove into the red zone at Arizona State. He’s become pretty good with the pitch, as he showed on the fake field touchdown earlier in the Indiana game.
This time, in this situation, more discretion was needed.
But he didn’t see it that way. He thought a first down would ice the game, and he wanted it ended.
“We weren’t going to get it if I kept it, so the only thing that could happen (badly) was a scoop and score,” Lewerke said calmly after practice on Tuesday. “As far as that goes, I’m still going to take chances and try to make plays whenever I can.”
Michigan State loves that about him. Most of the time.
And Spartan fans loved the way he engineered a two-minute touchdown drive at the end of the first half, hooking up with Davis on a pair of back-shoulder fades and a square-in.
The drive ended with touchdown pass to tight end Matt Dotson on another back-shoulder fade.
He had thrown to Dotson on the previous play.
Tight ends have not been a frequent target for Lewerke this season, but he says that could change.
“I think in general tight ends normally have a mismatch,” Lewerke said. “They might have a linebacker on them and they might be more athletic than a linebacker. So you can kind of throw it up to them and let them make a play, and that’s something we have to do. Maybe that’s a reason why our red zone is struggling a little bit, maybe not involving the tight end enough.”
The Spartans are 2-1, hunting for win No. 3 against Central Michigan on Saturday, coming off a 35-point performance at Indiana.
Lewerke is confident, maybe quietly cocky, but also willing to self-assess.
“Our goal is to score 30 every game,” he said. “The way I look at it, the offense only scored 21 (at Indiana) because seven came on a pick-six and seven on a fake field goal. We need to score more than that if we want to win. One or two more touchdowns would have been satisfactory.”
No one will argue with that.