What a difference a year makes.
Last year, MSU’s struggle to put points on the board was obvious. The team only scored 17 points or more in five games - two which resulted in losses.
But with new additions at the receiver position and a more diverse scheme, the Spartans have evolved into one of the Big Ten’s premier pass offenses.
“We have a lot more weapons this year,” senior wide receiver Herb Haygood said. “We just have so much talent now with Charles (Rogers), BJ (Lovett), Chris (Baker) and others. And that showed against Wisconsin, which was probably our best game of the year up to this point.”
MSU’s 42 points against the Badgers on Saturday was its best output since Oct. 2, 1999, when the Spartans thumped Iowa on Homecoming 49-3.
What’s promising is that the Spartans’ starting offense - which has included more two-, three- and four-receiver sets - has only two seniors, Haygood and Baker.
Against Wisconsin, the group’s production was due to the performance of sophomore receiver Rogers, who had a career day with five catches for 206 yards.
“It was just a big breakout game, things like that just happen,” Rogers said. “You really can’t predict when you’re going to have a game like that, games like that just sort of come up.”
MSU’s running game, led by junior tailback T.J. Duckett, was able to open more things up for the pass.
Offensive coordinator Morris Watts said Duckett - who had 186 yards rushing against the Badgers - can help the passing game stay more productive.
“I think (a successful running game) is one of the things that helps us,” Watts said. “When we have confidence that we can run the football, then that sets up a lot of different things. In the drive before the first half (against Wisconsin) and the rest of the second half, we really never shot ourselves in the foot in every single drive.”
In most cases, a receiver is as good as the quarterback that throws to him. And sophomore quarterback Jeff Smoker has fit the bill, completing a league-high 64 percent of his pass attempts.
Smoker’s development from a wide-eyed freshman to a poised sophomore has been a pleasure to watch, Watts said.
“I think he feels more comfortable with everything that we’re doing this year,” he said. “He’s starting to have some success and his confidence level has gone up, so he feels a lot better about making plays in certain situations.”
But Saturday’s home matchup against No. 6 Michigan could pose a lot of problems for the Spartans revamped offense from a year ago, Smoker said.
“They have a good secondary and some great athletes,” he said. “There’s a lot of different coverages that they could show against us. They don’t play as much man-to-man as Wisconsin does, they run a lot of zone coverages. Hopefully, we can still find a way to score.”
