“He’s clearly the starter heading into the offseason,” Dantonio said. “I think that’s warranted.”

In 2016, Lewerke played in four total games,  completing 31-of-57 passing attempts for 381 yards and two touchdowns along with an interception before he suffered a broken fibula late in the season. 

The 6-foot-3 quarterback also registered 149 rushing yards on 21 carries last season. 

“I’ve been very impressed with our quarterback, Brian Lewerke,” Dantonio said. “He’s 215 pounds now. He’s bigger, he’s faster, he throws the ball, he has great rhythm.”

During the annual Green-White scrimmage, Dantonio said Lewerke was "the guy" in regards to his starting quarterback.

Dantonio also said on Wednesday injuries to quarterbacks Damion Terry and Messiah deWeaver deterred their springs. 

“Damion was able to do a lot of pass (skeleton) work, but we held him out — he had a surgery coming out of the season, so we had to hold him out of contact work,” Dantonio said. “But he’s a fifth-year senior. He has a lot of experience and he can be a very good quarterback, but he needs to stay injury free. But he got a lot of reps in terms of drill work and things of that nature.”

Last season, Terry was 22-of-46 for 253 yards and he documented a touchdown and interception. 

The Erie, Penn. native, who also rushed for 85 yards in 2016, added a rushing touchdown to his 253 passing yards.

“And then Messiah deWeaver had some back issues, so he missed the majority — really, almost all — of this spring, so that set him back a little bit,” Dantonio said. “But I believe he is a fast learner, and he is going to have opportunities here as he moves forward.”