No Passing Panic: Michigan State Fine at QB

Many message board posters have been dinging Spartan QB Brian Hoyer all season because the Michigan State passing game isn't what it used to be. I was ignoring this as just picky fan chatter until Wednesday, when Detroit News columnist Lynn Henning grabbed a pitchfork and joined the mob.

The otherwise reliably levelheaded Henning didn't just question Hoyer's performance—he called for him to be replaced.

"Kirk Cousins must get immediate work. He simply is a more talented passer. This conference race could go MSU's way in a hurry if the Spartans get as serious about developing a pass attack that will be as important to MSU's October-November games as Javon Ringer's rushing."

Enough!

Last season, in eight games of Big Ten play, guess who finished No. 2 in pass efficiency?

Brian Hoyer. He threw just four picks in those games and had a better than 63 percent completion rate with 11 TDs.

Yes, he had an uncharacteristically bad bowl game. That doesn't wipe out the terrific regular season, particularly the outstanding conference play, which is most at issue right now as the 2008 Big Ten season gets underway.

Need more evidence?

Best red zone offense during 2007 Big Ten games? Michigan State.

Best scoring offense? Same.

As astute observers may have noticed, 1,773 of Hoyer's 2,725 passing yards and nearly half of his 223 completions from 2007 departed for the NFL draft in the persons of TE Kellen Davis and WR Devin Thomas.

Fortunately, what may yet be the best running back in team history stuck around. Mark Dantonio has wisely decided to let his receivers mature a bit while he heavily relies on his experienced and talented running attack.

Javon Ringer is an awfully smart security blanket.

This isn't just me talking. In his postgame radio interview after Notre Dame, Hoyer specifically said that the game plan was for him to be careful with the ball, above all other considerations. This means ALWAYS putting passes where only the guys in green can get them. Thus, balls often get somewhat deliberately under- and overthrown.

The result? Just two interceptions through four games. One pick was against Cal, the toughest team on the schedule so far, when Hoyer was asked to throw 48 times (for 321 not-unimpressive yards, BTW). The other was a garbage pick in the sloppy monsoon against Florida Atlantic.

Likewise, he was told to get rid of the ball quickly and avoid sacks, even when that means throwing it out of bounds. This game plan does ugly things to a QB's stats. But keeping turnovers in check keeps Javon Ringer on the field, and not taking sacks means avoiding long-yardage situations and making more plays where Ringer can carry the ball.

The bottom line: A cautious passing game that keeps down and distance manageable means Ringer has more chances to carry the ball and hit home runs. That is smashmouth football. Ringer's running opportunities and what he has done with them speak for themselves.

The Hoyer of 2007 was no fluke. At the very end of the 2006 season, with a lame duck coach, a 4-7 record, and starter Drew Stanton out with a concussion, Hoyer was tossed in to start on the road against Penn State in the season's last game.

Penn State finished that year with the 14th-best pass efficiency defense in the nation, intercepting an average of one pass per game and holding its opponents to just 197 yards in the air. Overall, Penn State would go on to win the Alamo Bowl and grab the No. 24 AP final ranking.

It should go without saying that it's rough to play Penn State in their house, particularly if you are Michigan State.

Hoyer, then a sophomore who had never started a game, went in and threw 61 passes, completing 30 of them for 291 yards and a TD. With that blizzard of passes flying through the air—the MSU single-game record—he threw ZERO interceptions. This show nearly won the game for MSU, a 17-point underdog.

The lesson in here is that Hoyer knows how to win games with his arm when that's what he's told to do. Right now, he's been told to not screw up the chances for letting Javon Ringer win games with his feet.

Not surprisingly, Hoyer has taken to the task and is executing it well. Either way, he's still winning with his head.

There will be games when he'll be asked to do more, and the evidence is very solid that he will be able to deliver. By then, the swiftly developing Dell and Cunningham receiver duo may be more than ready to fill the big shoes left by Davis and Thomas.

But for now, Brian Hoyer is a senior QB with an accomplished record who isn't complaining about sacrificing his stats so a true superstar can carry the team. That leadership and selfless play is more impressive than his pretty numbers from last year.

I hope that Kirk Cousins has all of this in him as well. But I sure hope I don't have reason to find out until next year.