1. Offense needs a coming out party
Whether the coaching staff limited the playbook against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane or not there were some obvious issues with the offense. Will Dantonio and the offensive staff open the playbook? No one knows the answer to that question. What we know is the Spartans want to be considered a credible threat in the difficult B1G East. If that’s what they want, there are some things on offense they need to clean up.
Brian Lewerke needs to be more accurate with the ball. He completed under 60 percent of his passes and averaged only 5.7 yards per completion. He wasn’t on time with some of his passes — others were too high or too low. For the offense to work well, Lewerke needs to be a 60 percent passer.
The receivers didn’t help Lewerke. Cody White looks like a No. 1 receiver and he needs to play like it. They have a full complement of receiver, but they left a lot of receptions on the turf against Tulsa. If there are two hands on the ball, they need to haul those in.
The offensive line needs to block the run better. The running backs for the Spartans average a meager 2.7 yards per carry. There was little push or explosion by their offensive line. They should have dominated Tulsa’s smaller line, but they didn’t.