GREEN & WHITE FOOTBALL

Dantonio: There is no quarterback controversy - yet

Chris Solari
Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING – Mark Dantonio steadfastly stood behind Tyler O’Connor. Michigan State, the 10th-year coach implored, does not have a quarterback controversy.

Senior quarterback Tyler O'Connor is sacked by Wisconsin T.J. Watt during the game against Wisconsin on Saturday.

There certainly is, at the minimum, reason for concern about his fifth-year senior.

O’Connor struggled against pressure, telegraphed passes and failed to stretch the field vertically. He threw passes either behind or too short for his teammates, missing open receivers down field while trying to force the ball into tight windows and double coverage.

There also were times when his receivers couldn’t shake coverage. Or his offensive line and others missed blocks. Or when his running backs couldn’t run the ball.

“It’s an accumulation of everything that’s involved in offensive football, I think,” Dantonio said Sunday night after revisiting the tape of the Spartans’ 30-6 loss to No. 8 Wisconsin. “And things just didn’t go well.”

No panic from Dantonio after battering by Badgers

Fans let loose on O’Connor after the Badgers overpowered the 16th-ranked Spartans, calling for him to lose the starting job to redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke. Or Damion Terry. Or anyone else.

Pump the brakes with the overreaction.

Many of these critics are the same ones who glorified O’Connor following MSU’s 36-28 win at Notre Dame – one that, in hindsight, looks much less glamorous. Many of those same flaws were evident in the quarterback’s performance there, only the outcome was different.

O’Connor remains 3-1 as a starting quarterback, though, with two of those victories on the road at Ohio State and Notre Dame. A player who has been in the program for five seasons certainly deserves the loyalty of his coaches, and O’Connor has given them reasons in the past for why Dantonio is showing it now.

“We never really lost confidence. We stick together and know we have to bounce back,” O’Connor said. “There’s always going to be adversity, and we pride ourselves on that here.”

It’s clear that around O’Connor, a youth movement has started. Slowly. Six true freshmen now have played three games into the season. Dantonio also gave the ball to Lewerke for the final drive against Wisconsin, and the redshirt freshman went 2 of 4 for 26 yards and added a 16-yard scramble.

Promising, right? Not after Dantonio rewatched the game.

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“Well, it was his first time in a football game, and the first throw he had was intercepted. It was a poor throw, a poor decision,” Dantonio said of a play that was overturned due to a Badgers penalty. “Following that, he delivered one that was dropped on the money which was dropped by a true freshman (Trishton Jackson), and then following that he completed one and then after that he scrambled twice, one which was called back and another one he scrambled. I would say that concluded his five plays.

“But he needs to get better. He’ll have his opportunities as the season moves forward.”

Sure, bringing in an untested Lewerke (or Messiah deWeaver, for that matter) might give MSU a jumpstart toward the 2017 season and beyond. But Dantonio’s program no longer is content with a step-back, bridge year. Many of these same frustrations at the outset of 2013 caused fans to call for Terry to take over as a true freshman and use it as a rebuilding year.

How’d that turn out?

O’Connor’s predecessor, Connor Cook, eventually became MSU’s all-time leader in almost every statistical category. He orchestrated two Big Ten titles, wins in the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl and led the Spartans to the College Football Playoff last season.

Don’t forget: Cook also lost early-season games in each of the past three years. The Spartans recovered nicely.

That’s not saying O’Connor is Cook, nor is it saying he’s doomed to the same fate as Andrew Maxwell. But Cook eventually won that last QB competition by making plays. That’s what O’Connor must do now.

“At this point in time there is no quarterback controversy,” Dantonio said. “Now, there may become one at some point. It’s about production. But there were a lot of things that entered into this one (Saturday).”

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O’Connor brings a different skill-set than both of his predecessors, ones that MSU’s coaches maximized against Notre Dame – short passes, designed runs that sparingly were used against a stout Wisconsin front seven. Dantonio conceded the Spartans may have erred as a staff in taking its offense to the edge of formations more often Saturday.

There remains plenty of time for O’Connor and the offense to readjust. Pulling the plug on him just three games into his starting career reeks of panic, especially with an Indiana defense up next that has had its share of struggles over the past few years.

But a few more performances – and losses – like Saturday, and Dantonio will have no choice but to move toward the future.

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.

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