3 Biggest season takeaways for Michigan State this season

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It has been quite the turnaround season for Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State Spartans, as they have flipped their 3-9 record from last year to 9-3 in 2017. The Spartans finished the season 7-2 in Big Ten play, with wins over arch-rival Michigan, and a top-10 Penn State team.

Now MSU will await their bowl destination, which is likely to be a January bowl game against a solid team. Here are the three biggest takeaways from their bounce back season:

DON’T DOUBT DANTONIO

In his previous ten years at Michigan State, head coach Mark Dantonio had accomplished some pretty remarkable things; three Big Ten championships, five 11-win seasons in six years from 2010-15, a Rose bowl victory in 2013, a Cotton bowl victory in 2014, and a 7-3 record against rival Michigan, to name a few.

But yet there was still considerable doubt about his ability to turn this program back around for the second time in his tenure after last year’s disastrous 3-9 season. Many doubted him and this program would rise back up, especially after the tumultuous off-season the Spartans had.

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As it turns out, that doubt probably just fueled him and Michigan State even more, as they got that chip back on their shoulder and rattled off nine wins. Two of those were huge victories, one against in-state rival Michigan at the Big House, and the other against a Penn State team that was ranked No. 7 at the time of the matchup and finished the regular season No. 9.

The talent on the roster wasn’t overwhelming, but Dantonio and crew got the job done. I think it’s safe to say nobody should be doubting him again anytime soon.

THE MSU QUARTERBACK FACTORY CONTINUES

If there’s one thing that’s been consistent about good Michigan State teams since Mark Dantonio’s arrival, it’s that they always have a really good quarterback. Kirk Cousins and Connor Cook are the main ones that jump out at you, as both were three-year starters that won a ton of games.

Cousins won a Big Ten championship in 2010, and was 3-0 against Michigan. Cook won two Big Ten titles; one in 2013 and another in 2015, and also went 3-0 against Michigan. That’s not even mentioning victories in the Rose bowl and Cotton bowl in consecutive seasons in 2013 and 2014.

Enough about those guys, though. Enter Brian Lewerke.

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Lewerke was named the starter in the spring after breaking his leg against Michigan in 2016. Boy, did he deliver in 2017. Lewerke finished the season throwing for 2,580 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven picks. He became just the third quarterback in Big Ten history to throw for 400 yards in consecutive games, doing so against Northwestern and Penn State. The only other two to accomplish that were Drew Brees and C.J. Bacher.

Those numbers might not jump off the screen at you, but there’s a lot more to Lewerke’s game than just passing. He’s also a great runner, as he ran for 489 yards and five touchdowns. His longest run of the year came on a 61-yard touchdown run against Western Michigan back on September 16. This mobility makes him a duel-threat, something that Cousins and Cook were not.

On top of all of that, Lewerke was just a sophomore this season, meaning he’ll probably be the starter in East Lansing the next two years, making him a potential three-year starter like Cousins and Cook before him, that is, if he doesn’t get hurt or declare a year early for the NFL Draft. Either way, it looks like his promising career is just getting started.

DOMINATING DEFENSE IS BACK

At the start of the year, the biggest concern about this Michigan State team was probably the defense. In 2016, the Spartan defense took a huge step back from what they had usually been able to accomplish under Mark Dantonio.

That 2016 group gave up 365 total yards a game, including 158.7 on the ground. That defense also only recorded 11 sacks in 12 games, and gave up a third-down conversion rate of 42 percent.

After that catastrophe, the Spartans lost key defensive starters Malik McDowell and Montae Nicholson a year early to the NFL Draft. This year’s team only had two seniors starting on defense; Chris Frey at linebacker and Demetrius Cooper at defensive end.

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Yet, somehow this team got way better on defense. That was hard to see coming with all of the youth playing all over the field. The Spartans were stout against the run, giving up just a little over 100 yards a game on the ground, which includes a game where they allowed more than 300 yards rushing to Ohio State. The pass defense was pretty close to being just as good, as MSU gave up only 196 yards through the air per contest.

The biggest improvement was in the sacks department, as the Spartans recorded 25 sacks on the season; 14 more than last year. And on third down, they managed to trim down just over 10 percent from that mark a season ago.

With all of the youth on the defense, this unit is only going to get better. They took a major step in the right direction this season.