Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State Football: 5 storylines to follow vs. Northwestern

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 8, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Damion Terry (6) takes the snap of the ball from Michigan State Spartans offensive lineman Brian Allen (65)(not pictured)during the second half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Here are five storylines we should be following for Saturday’s Michigan State football game against Northwestern.

If you said that you believed Michigan State football would be just 2-3 after five games to start the 2016 season, I would have called you a liar. The Spartans are clearly struggling right now and there are many people who believe a bowl game just isn’t in the cards this season.

However, there’s still plenty of time left in the year. Michigan State has seven games left on the schedule and, luckily, the toughest contests will be played at home. Not that it means much, though, seeing as Michigan State is just 1-2 at Spartan Stadium this season.

Looking to break that two-game home losing streak and three-game overall skid, the Spartans will be hosting a 2-3 Northwestern team. The Wildcats, too, have been struggling, losing to Western Michigan and Illinois State to start the season.

Each team has failed to live up to expectations after 10-plus win campaigns in 2015. One of these squads is due for a potential confidence-boosting win on Saturday afternoon in East Lansing, but who will it be?

Take a look at the five storylines we should be following for the game.

5. Change in play-calling?

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver R.J. Shelton (12) runs the ball while Indiana Hoosiers defensive back Rashard Fant (16) tackles him in the second half of the game at Memorial Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers beat the Michigan State Spartans by the score of 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan State desperately needs someone new calling the plays, but it seems like that change in offensive coordinators might be a ways off. Mark Dantonio has reassured Dave Warner that he is still the man in charge of play-calling, but he has to know that he’s skating on thin ice.

Despite being the play-caller for the successful Connor Cook era, it seems like he is content with an average offense just because a new quarterback is in place. Sure, Tyler O’Connor is nothing like his predecessor and there might even be a new quarterback in place this week, but running the ball on each play during the second quarter against the 113th-ranked passing defense (BYU) in the country is just boneheaded.

The stubborn play-calling of Warner needs to be fixed and Dantonio needs to make sure that the calls are aiming to attack the opposing defense’s weakness more often than not.

No more runs between the tackles three times in a row, totaling seven yards, and no more jet sweeps to the short side of the field. The offense needs to get back to the basics and mix it up.

Oct 1, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio talks with players during a time out in the first quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Indiana Hoosiers beat the Michigan State Spartans 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

4. Spartans to play with sense of urgency?

Losing three straight games after a 2-0 start is enough to drive any team crazy, let alone one that made the College Football Playoff last season. Michigan State is searching for answers and they might not come easy as each of the past two weeks have seemed like failures pertaining to figuring out fixes.

Both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball have been going through some growing pains. The problem is that not much growing has been evident. The quarterback situation is iffy, the offensive and defensive lines have been mediocre, the secondary is slightly improving and the run game is non-existent.

It looked like Michigan State came out with a sense of urgency against BYU last week, passing the ball six times on the first drive, but then the Spartans didn’t throw the ball once in the second quarter. That sense of urgency after the first score to make it 7-0 disappeared just as quickly as it surfaced.

With a potentially new starting quarterback under center, will Michigan State come out to play with its bowl hopes on the line or will the Spartans crumble for the fourth straight game? The sense of urgency needs to be there.

Oct 1, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; Northwestern Wildcats running back Justin Jackson (21) runs the ball during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Northwestern won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

3. Justin Jackson vs. MSU front seven

Michigan State is playing yet another solid running back in Northwestern’s Justin Jackson. He seems to be on the lower end of the scale in terms of elite running backs the Spartans have faced over the last few weeks, but he still poses a threat to this depleted front seven.

The Spartans faced Josh Adams in Week 3 and shut him down, stymied Corey Clement in Week 4, halted Devine Redding in Week 5 but were gashed by BYU’s Jamaal Williams last week. Did the numerous injuries to the defensive line and linebacking corps have something to do with the 164-yard performance from Williams?

BYU found running lanes all day long and exploited the Spartan defense. It was pretty clear that the absences of Raequan Williams, Malik McDowell for a half, Jon Reschke and Riley Bullough hurt the defense.

Jackson is the only running back worth mentioning on the entire Northwestern roster. In fact, he has 510 yards on the ground this season and the next closest rusher is sophomore quarterback Clayton Thorson with just 52 yards.

The junior running back is coming off his best game of the season, 171 yards and a touchdown, against a tough Iowa defense. Will the Spartans be able to hold him in check?

Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Donnie Corley (9) celebrates after MSU defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 36-28 at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

2. Success of youth movement

Freshmen are being inserted just about everywhere on the depth chart. This year, more than any in recent memory, there has been a major youth movement under Mark Dantonio. It’ll be interesting to see how the young guys fare against Northwestern this weekend.

Justin Layne is one of the young Spartans who has seen his redshirt burned over the past couple of weeks and could have an instant impact. Coming out of high school as a highly-touted four-star wide receiver, he looked to be maybe a special teams standout as a freshman, if he did play, but he has been given a shot to play cornerback.

While Layne is listed on the depth chart as the No. 2 cornerback behind Vayante Copeland, surprisingly, Auston Robertson is the No. 2 defensive end behind Evan Jones. Despite not playing last week, the true freshman is expected to see some action on the line against Northwestern. With all of the issues up front, that could spark the pass rush.

On the other side of the ball, Donnie Corley is getting his first shot to start at receiver, which was only a matter of time. He’s second on the team with 16 catches for 237 yards and a touchdown. Trishton Jackson might also get some time at wide out this week.

Lastly, could redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke get his chance to shine at quarterback? Listed as an ‘OR’ to start at quarterback this week, the young gunslinger might finally get a shot.

Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Tyler O

1. Three-way quarterback battle

If there’s one storyline we should all be following this weekend as the Spartans take on Northwestern, it has to be the three-way quarterback battle. There’s competition brewing under center and this feels like the start of the season when no one was sure what to make of the quarterback position.

Must Read: MSU Football: 5 bold predictions vs. Northwestern

After five games, the starting quarterback job is still cloudy even though O’Connor has been the only one to see action. However, Damion Terry did come in at the end of the BYU game to lead Michigan State to its second score of the day, totaling about 92 total yards and a rushing touchdown.

That offensive spark helped the Spartans figure out that maybe the offensive issues can be directly tied to that QB position. If Terry can come in ice-cold off the bench and lead Michigan State to half its total yardage in less than a quarter than it had in three-plus under O’Connor’s watch, then maybe it’s time for a change.

On the Week 7 depth chart, the quarterback position had three players listed as ‘OR’ for the starting quarterback job. Terry, O’Connor and redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke who is 2-of-4 for 26 yards and 16 rushing yards this year. Many believe the latter should win the job based on potential.

With Messiah deWeaver redshirting, he is likely out of the picture. Who will win the quarterback job after this week or will it still be cloudy heading into Week 8?