Michigan State Football: Finding a Reliable Passing Attack Is Spring Priority

The Spartans finished the season ranked 10th in the Coaches Poll and ended on a positive note, beating Georgia in the Outback Bowl 33-30 in overtime. That was a plus for a team that had the second-worst rematch situation of the 2011 season. Everyone knows about the LSU vs. Alabama rematch for the title, but Michigan State had their own problems in the Big Ten's rematch edition as they couldn't find a way to beat the Wisconsin Badgers twice in one season.

The door is closed on 2011 and the Rose Bowl berth that might have been. We open the door to 2012 and the Spartans are trying to figure out how to get back into the Big Ten Championship. The defense has legitimate players at every level and the running game should continue to be effective. However, the quarterback and the passing game as a whole are where Sparty must get answers this spring.

Kirk Cousins, the leader of the Spartans for the last three seasons, is now gone. The quarterback departed for the NFL and all of his records, poise and production have gone with him. That leaves Andrew Maxwell as the likely trigger man for Dan Roushar's scheme and he is not exactly experienced. He has just one TD pass in 51 pass attempts in his career, but he has taken five sacks. Being in the system for the last few seasons does help him understand what's expected of him, but how he handles the reins full time is going to be a wait-and-see game.

The issues with the passing game are compounded by the departure of basically everyone who caught a meaningful pass. BJ Cunningham is gone. Keyshawn Martin is gone. Brian Linthicum is gone. Keith Nichol is gone. The playmakers for this offense have moved on, which means as Maxwell is getting his feet wet he'll be doing it with a wet-behind-the-ears receiving group. New receivers are not easy for an experienced quarterback to work with, when both the quarterback and receivers are new it is a true trial by fire.

Now that we've highlighted the most pressing issue in spring camp for the Spartans, we can touch on the things every Spartan, or football fan in general, should be excited about in East Lansing. While the passing game is going to be a work in progress, Le'Veon Bell is back to run the ball. That means Dan Roushar's offense will be rooted in the ground-and-pound game until Maxwell figures out what he's doing.

The real excitement is for this defense. Yes, Jerel Worthy is gone, headed for the NFL. But that's okay because Pat Narduzzi's group of defenders has a shot to be one of the nation's truly elite groups. Before we get into the pieces, a bit on Narduzzi. The Michigan State defensive coordinator is one of the nation's most underrated and underappreciated commodities. He runs a defense that plays a solid scheme, applies pressure to teams and forces the issue. His guys fly around the field and play sound defensive football principles.

At all three levels the Spartans have some stars in the making: William Gholston sets the tone for the defensive line, Max Bullough and Denicos Allen are solid linebackers and Johnny Adams is a quality corner. Losing Trenton Robinson in the back end is going to be a hurdle, but to be fair, he was not exactly Mark Barron in the back end. Gholston really should get Sparty's blood flowing on defense because the big kid is athletic, smart and a playmaker that shows up all over the field.

When you're heading into the unknown from a quarterback and receiver standpoint, it helps to know that your running game and defense have your back. That's the situation for Mark Dantonio in East Lansing right now. As the offense finds some balance this spring, expect the defense to push the young quarterback and really test his development.