Michigan State notes: QB Brian Lewerke stays in, has up-and-down night

EAST LANSING – The game was well out of reach, the clock winding down. Brian Lewerke continued to grab his helmet and trot onto the field.

And throw the ball. And take hits.

That’s just how Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio wanted it.

“I wanted him to play,” Dantonio said after the Spartans’ 38-18 loss to Notre Dame. “We want to keep competing. And I think every snap he takes, he learns. I'm not going to say, ‘Let’s just put in our guys and let’s stop trying to play.’ I just don't believe in doing that. You've got to try and play. We're going to keep competing.”

Simply looking at the numbers makes it easy to believe Lewerke put up a stellar performance. The third-year sophomore threw for a career-high 340 yards, which is tied for 18th all-time in MSU’s single-game history. His 31 completions are tied for fifth-most in a game, and his 51 attempts are seventh.

But there was that devastating pick-6 immediately after Notre Dame’s first touchdown, when he stared down Darrell Stewart and allowed cornerback Julian Love to jump the route and return it 59 yards to make it 14-0.

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“The biggest part of his job is decision-making and he just needs to focus in, first on the interception, focus in on the receiver,” co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner said. “Saw it coming and I couldn't do anything about it. That's a continuing process. We need to make progress in that area.”

There was Lewerke’s second lost fumble of the season, the fifth time he put the ball on the turf – including two botched snap exchanges – in three games so far, deep in his own territory. That cost the Spartans another seven points. Lewerke also had a 52-yard run but got sacked twice.

“The mistakes that were made, the interception, that really wasn’t me trying to make a play," Lewerke said. "That was just a bad decision on my part. You’ve got to take your risk and also cut back sometimes and try to be safer to limit the turnovers.”

In the waning moments, Lewerke took a hit below the knee. He suffered a broken leg last year against Michigan that ended his season. Notre Dame was called for a penalty for the low hit.

Lewerke popped back up this time and kept throwing. Warner said there never was talk about bringing in someone else.

“Coach Dantonio is one to press ahead,” Warner said. “He used some timeouts to try and score points. Just a never-give-up mentality.”

ROTATING LINE: The Spartans managed to experiment and get more players experience along their offensive line. Some of the rotating was to give players breaks from the heat, and some of it was to give youngsters more experience.

The starters remained unchanged – Cole Chewins at left tackle, Tyler Higby at left guard, senior captain Brian Allen at center, David Beedle at right guard and Luke Campbell at right tackle.

True freshman Jordan Reid was the first sub in, replacing Campbell at right tackle. Then redshirt freshman Campbell joined him by getting his first in-game reps at left tackle. True freshman Kevin Jarvis also saw action at right guard.

“I thought a lot of young guys, for really being their first true test in a big environment, played pretty well,” Allen said. “Our O-line, they’re still freshmen and sophomores. They were in there were in there tonight with guys who have been playing at Notre Dame for quite some time. It was encouraging to see.”

FUMBLING ISSUES: After losing his third fumble this season, junior running back LJ Scott now has fumbled eight times on 374 carries in his 29 career games, losing six of them.

Quarterback Brian Lewerke committed his fourth fumble of the season, though the third-year sophomore has only lost two.

FRESHPAIR: The Spartans have now used 12 true freshmen this season after two more made their debut against the Irish.

Dominique Long was on MSU’s kickoff coverage unit to open the game. And in the fourth quarter, Andre Welch returned a kickoff for the Spartans.

FINALLY GOOD: It took three games, but new MSU kicker Matt Coghlin finally got his first field-goal attempt. The redshirt freshman drilled a 40-yarder in the third quarter from between the hash marks. He also added his 10th point-after kick in 10 tries.