Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from victory over Michigan State

3. The Spartans Have No Hope On Offense

Heading into the week, the Spartans had the S&P+ 73rd ranked offense and it shows. Michigan State put up pedestrian numbers against Bowling Green and Western Michigan in tune-up games before the conference slate began. Brian Lewerke won’t be mistaken for Josh Rosen any time soon. He puts up good numbers against Group of Five teams but has struggled against Power Fives in his young career.

Lewerke has struggled against the Irish tonight and struggled with Maryland a year ago. Although he did have a nice game against Michigan in 2016 as a freshman. The 6-foot-3, 212-pound quarterback has room to grow but with LJ Scott struggling as well, the offense needs a new play caller to get a fresh start for Sparty.

Scott fumbled on the 1-yard-line heading into the end zone against Notre Dame that really stopped any hope for Michigan State’s offense to gain momentum. Lewerke threw for 340 yards against Notre Dame but his yards per attempt was a mere 6.6 which is over two yards under the average you’re looking for as a coach, which is nine yards per attempt.

Offensive coordinator Jim Bollman had success in 2013 with Connor Cook leading the Spartans to a 13-1 record with their lone loss coming to Notre Dame, of all teams. It could be the time for Dantonio to go away from Bollman and with a new offensive mindset in order to get Sparty back on track.