Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke (14) performs a drill during the football practice on July 31, 2017, at the practice fields behind the Duffy Daugherty Football Building
To co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner, quarterback Brian Lewerke brings something to the team that MSU football hasn’t seen in recent years.
The 6-foot-3, 212-pound signal-caller’s athleticism leads Warner to think Lewerke is the most athletic quarterback MSU has had “in our time.”
Lewerke’s ability to run the ball efficiently allows Warner to open up the playbook to create designed runs.
“The last four to five years, we’ve had quarterback runs in our offense,” Warner said. “It’s just a matter of picking and choosing how often you want to use those. I think Brian, however, has the ability and probably the want-to a little bit more to pull the ball down when he’s sitting in the pocket and run and create things that way, so it’ll be interesting to see how he uses that. We’re excited to see that.”
MSU fans saw a bit of that last year as Lewerke rushed for 149 yards on 21 attempts in four games last season before breaking his tibia in October, which hindered his progression, and forced Lewerke to miss practice time and valuable in-game experience.
Due to the injury and minimal in-game experience, Warner isn't expecting Lewerke to be a masterful, lustrous product right out of the gate in the season opener on Saturday.
“Well, Brian is still young; he’s started a couple of games,” Warner said. “Unfortunately, he’s going to go through some first-time starter mistakes as well. We expect that. Obviously, we want to minimize those, but he missed a great deal in getting injured and not being able to go through those pains and struggles the last five games or whatever it was last year. At the same time, he’s able to handle a lot, so we’re anxious to see how he handles everything. Don’t expect him to come out and be a polished product just yet.”
In 2016, Lewerke completed 31 of 57 passes for two touchdowns and an interception.
During MSU’s spring game in April, the native of Phoenix, Arizona, was 25 of 44 for 305 yards and one touchdown.
“You know, when you have an opportunity to play as a redshirt freshman, and you start a couple of games and play pretty well, and you have some moments in the game, that's a positive,” head coach Mark Dantonio said.
“The way he's handled that, he's shown a lot of growth as a person. He's responded and shown a lot in his leadership abilities. Also on the field, he knows our offense, he's got a great arm, he's got quick release, he can get out of problems, he's elusive and he's calm under pressure. And I think all those things have sort of allowed me to move forward with my statements on him as a quarterback. I think he has an outstanding future.”
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