Michigan State interim HC Harlon Barnett on QB: ‘We know what we’re going to do and we feel good about it’
East Lansing, Mich. – In the Kinnick Stadium media room following Michigan State’s deflating 26-16 loss to Iowa on Sept. 30, interim head coach Harlon Barnett said he and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson would take the ensuing bye week “to see if something needs to be done or not,” at the quarterback position.
Nine days later, after practice Monday afternoon, Barnett indicated that he and the staff had made a decision regarding who would start at quarterback for Saturday’s road test against Rutgers (Noon, BTN). Barnett, however, did not go into specifics.
“We’re still evaluating it,” Barnett said. “There’s a good competition going on. It’s going to be good. Guys know where they stand and what’s going to happen. So we’ll just leave it at that for now.”
It’s no surprise that Barnett chose not to reveal who would start Saturday’s game, as to maintain any kind of competitive advantage over the Scarlet Knights.
“It’s because we don’t want anyone to know, kind of, you know what I mean?,” Barnett said with a smile, when asked why he chose not to reveal the starter on Monday. “We know what we’re going to do and we feel good about it, so you’ll see on Saturday.”
Michigan State practiced three times during the bye week, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Between those three practices, the weeks of practices during the spring and fall and a month’s worth of games, Noah Kim, Katin Houser and Sam Leavitt have all had an opportunity to audition for the starting job ahead of the Rutgers game.
When asked whether the competition will remain open during practice this week, with game prep at the top of everybody’s minds, Barnett again responded with a smile.
“Possibly,” he said.
Kim, the starter for Michigan State’s first five games of the season, threw three interceptions on Sept. 30 against the Hawkeyes, which increased his total to five interceptions over the last two games.
On the season, Kim has thrown for 1,090 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions on 56.9 percent passing.
With Kim at the helm, Michigan State’s offense has been responsible for just one touchdown over its last three games, which incited the need for a potential change.
Kim won the job ahead of the season thanks to his performance during spring and fall practice, and in Michigan State’s scrimmages during August camp. But Barnett has remained consistent in his approach regarding turnover at every position on the team. He said as much during his radio show, which occurred over the bye week.
“We’re looking at everybody (at quarterback),” Barnett said during his Oct. 5 radio show. “It’s wide open. It’s still a competition. It will always be that way.
“It was that way after the spring, going into the summer, then we felt like Noah won it, but there’s still competition going on. So it’s not like anybody has a position that’s just set in stone, and that’s how we look at it. And that’s only fair.
“Just because you win it at one point in time, if you’re not maintaining the standard that allowed you to win it, competition will start to creep back up on you again and others will earn an opportunity as well.”
Houser, a redshirt freshman, has seen time in all but one of Michigan State’s contests this season. In the first two games of the season against Central Michigan and Richmond, Houser entered the game late in the fourth quarter, with Michigan State leading big. He recorded one passing attempt in each of those games.
In week three against Washington, after Kim had taken multiple hits during the first three quarters of the game and Michigan State’s offense sputtering, Houser entered with a quarter to go and led Michigan State on its only touchdown drive of the game. The former four-star quarterback ran in a four-yard score with 5:48 to play and the Spartans down big.
Both Houser and Leavitt, a former four-star and true freshman, earned playing time the following week in a 31-9 loss to Maryland. Houser led Michigan State on a 12-play, 82-yard drive with 10:53 to play and the Spartans down 24-9, but he threw an interception on a first-and-goal screen pass.
Leavitt completed two passes against Maryland when he entered with 1:30 to play.
For some teams, a mid-season quarterback change could offer distractions and potentially divide a locker room. But Barnett believes that this Michigan State team, which has already battled countless distractions as a result of Mel Tucker’s firing, will not have any issues should a quarterback change be made.
“The guys, they just want a win,” Barnett said. “They know that we’re going to give them the best opportunity to win with the quarterback or any other position, for that matter. They all are teammates and they all root for one another and they all know that the best players play and we’re all competing everyday for our jobs, so I don’t think there’s a split in the locker room or anything like that.
“Guys just want to win football games, that’s all really all it boils down to. And it doesn’t just boil down to the quarterback, either. So they know it’s all positions. We showed things where everybody could’ve done something better and made plays and did things. It’s not just the quarterback. They understand that and the quarterback is no different. The best players play and that’s how we’re going to do it.”
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