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Column: Passing game concern for Dantonio, MSU

September 23, 2012

State News football reporters Josh Mansour and Jesse O’Brien discuss MSU’s victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

Photo by Josh Mansour | The State News

Thirty-one passing yards.

Thirty-one.

That’s it.

The first half was over, and junior running back Le’Veon Bell had more yards on back-to-back carries than MSU’s passing game totaled on 19 pass attempts, averaging about 1.6 yards per throw.

The No. 20 MSU football team (3-1) was able to overcome what head coach Mark Dantonio described as a “flat” first half to beat Eastern Michigan (0-4) 23-7 on Saturday, but a passing game that was supposed to get better with experience seems to be getting alarmingly worse with each passing week.

Keep in mind, Eastern Michigan features the same defense that Purdue pummeled for 54 points the week before, and that also surrendered 31 points to Illinois State, an FCS team, two weeks prior.

The pressure is mounting for an offense that not only struggles to produce explosive plays, but frequently forces its defense to protect a short field.

With conference play beginning on Saturday, and MSU hosting the Big Ten’s highest-ranked team — No. 14 Ohio State — a noticeably agitated Dantonio said after the game the offense needs to be better to be effective against the Buckeyes.

“What you’ve got to do to improve is catch the ball. I mean, throw and catch. Throw and catch,” Dantonio said.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with the route. The route’s there. The ball is thrown there; you’ve got to catch the football. And I hate to lay it out there like that, but that’s just the way it is.”

Yet to this point, the only dependable target for junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell is tight end Dion Sims, a junior whose career-high 112 receiving yards on six catches against EMU were the only instances where MSU was able to move the ball consistently through the air.

MSU receivers have dropped a combined 13 passes during the past two games, and Maxwell has struggled to make up the difference.

Bennie Fowler is the most experienced member of the receiving corps, but after a fumble in the second quarter resulted in an EMU touchdown, the junior receiver was barely on the field in the second half.

Earlier in the week, Fowler said the receivers know there’s talk that they’re the team’s weakest position group, and it’s a source of motivation to prove the doubters wrong.

“The only thing that is not working for us in the passing game right now is us not finishing the play,” Fowler said. “The receivers have to prove something every week; we have to continue to come out and show the offense, the coaches and Maxwell that we will be there for them and continue to make the big plays.”

Yet for Maxwell, trust with his receivers remains a work in progress, and the time for progress is running short.

Ohio State averages nearly 38 points per game, and before scores from Bell and Sims late in Saturday’s fourth quarter, MSU had gone seven quarters without scoring a touchdown.

There’s little doubt that MSU’s defense — which ranks third in the nation by allowing just 8.2 points per game — is performing at a championship level.

But if Maxwell and his receivers can’t help a struggling passing game take flight, MSU’s defensive dominance ultimately will be meaningless.

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