White 14, Green 11: O'Connor stands out in MSU spring game
EAST LANSING - Four quarterbacks each got their chance in Michigan State’s spring game Saturday. All of them showed their potential and flaws.
Donnie Corley barely got a chance to do any of that.
Maybe he just got overlooked, perhaps it was some sandbagging. Whatever the case, the highly-touted freshman wide receiver caught just one pass for 18 yards, rarely was on the field and was targeted even less as his White team defeated Green, 14-11 behind quarterbacks Damion Terry and Messiah deWeaver.
Corley – the talk of the spring by MSU players and coaches – had one catch, a leaping grab in traffic on a third-down throw from Terry as he got drilled, and got one run for a loss of 2 yards on the next-to-last play of the scrimmage. He was targeted four times through the air.
“We had a lot of big plans for him and R.J. (Shelton) to get them on the outside,” Terry said of Corley. “But I don’t know, games work out weird. It’s just not how it went, but you’ll see a lot this fall. I’m sure.”
Who will be throwing to Corley, Shelton and the other wide receivers also remains an unanswered question. MSU coach Mark Dantonio said he wouldn’t anoint a starter until the fall.
“I’m not going to make the mistake of saying, ‘This guy’s it,’ and put all the pressure on one guy,” Dantonio said after completing his 10th spring at MSU. “I want the pressure to be on the group of four, I want the pressure to be on the quarterbacks coach, and I want the pressure to remain there among all of them for them to be consistent.
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But Tyler O’Connor, the No. 1 quarterback on the spring depth chart, showed why he’s considered ahead of the other three Saturday. The fifth-year senior went 10 of 16 for 138 yards and a touchdown for the Green team. He also ran four times and tied for the game-high with 28 yards rushing.
MSU threw the ball 44 of the 90 plays between the two teams, attempting to stretch the field vertically at times to see what the four quarterbacks can do. They also combined for 10 of the teams’ 46 running attempts.
Terry, listed as the backup, started for the White team and went 6 of 12 for 70 yards but sailed some bad throws. He ran for a 3-yard touchdown late in the third quarter and an 11-yard run earlier in the same drive, but he also got sacked and nearly lost two fumbles.
Redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke was 2 of 9 for 42 yards, adding in a 25-yard scramble in the fourth quarter before throwing an ill-advised interception three plays later to prevent Green a chance from tying it on a field goal or winning it with a touchdown.
DeWeaver finished 2 of 6 for 27 yards, but the true freshman orchestrated a 58-yard drive in his first college action in the second quarter. It was capped by Delton Williams’ 2-yard score on a stretch play around right end.
“I think the biggest thing is being able to be in this environment,” said quarterbacks coach Brad Salem, who coached the White team. “For them, there’s a lot of things – just the signal from the sideline, calling it in the huddle – becoming real. We try to replicate that as much as we can in practice. But part of it is you put them on a big stage with people and how they handle it.”
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O’Connor got votes of confidence from Dantonio and Salem, but the coaches plan to keep all four quarterbacks competing through summer workouts and into preseason camp.
“It ensures that no one gets complacent, for sure,” O’Connor said, “To me, and I believe for every other quarterback, we have to play with the mindset that we’re the guy, that we’re going to go out there and be the No. 1. If I was anyone else, I would say that as well.”
MSU announced a spring game-record crowd of 51,000 on a pristine, sunny afternoon. The Spartans will return in early August for preseason camp, with their first game Sept. 2 against Furman at Spartan Stadium.
When they do begin camp, each of the position battles will resume anew. Players will have their spring grades from coaches and know where their strengths and weaknesses are. How they improve between now and then, Dantonio said, will dictate their playing time and roles.
“That is the goal, to get the best 22 (players),” Dantonio said. “We really don’t care whether they’re freshmen or seniors or fifth-year seniors or new guys or walk-ons or whatever it is.”
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