It's Time...
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Michigan State football enjoys a much-needed 'bye' this Saturday, after three consecutive losses have dropped the Spartans to 2-3 through five weeks. When MSU retakes the field next week at Rutgers, they should do so with a new starting quarterback.
It's time for interim head coach Harlon Barnett and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson to give redshirt freshman Katin Houser an opportunity to show what he can do. A former four-star recruit out of heralded St. John Bosco High School in California, we've heard about Houser's natural abilities for the last two years. It's time to see how that talent translates on the field.
After putting up good numbers against Central Michigan and Richmond to open the season, curent MSU starter Noah Kim has struggled mightily over the past three weeks against Power 5 competition. The redshirt junior has completed just 55-of-107 pass attempts (51.4%) with one passing touchdown and six interceptions against Washington, Maryland and Iowa. Michigan State has been outscored by a total of 66 points in those games.
The Spartans have not scored an offensive touchdown in their last 19 possessions, 17 of which featured Kim at quarterback. After Kim threw three interceptions in a 26-16 loss at Iowa last weekend, Barnett was asked if MSU would reevaluate the quarterback position during the bye week.
“We’ll watch the film very closely," Barnett said. "We’ve got two weeks – that’s a good thing. Jay (Johnson) and I and the offensive staff will all talk it through and see if there’s something that needs to be done or not and evaluate it, being very, very realistic in evaluation and being very fair at the same time.
“Everybody is always being evaluated and there’s always competition going on,” Barnett continued. “It’s no different for any other position.”
Michigan State's offensive struggles over the last three weeks don't fall solely on Kim's shoulders. The Spartans have other issues other than its starting quarterback, and Houser shouldn't be expected to come in and suddenly turn this season around overnight.
In limited playing time this season, Houser has completed 9-of-16 attempts (56.3%) with an interception he threw after replacing Kim at the end of the Maryland game. However, prior to that INT, Houser had led an 85-yard drive against the Terrapins. He also engineered a 99-yard touchdown drive the week prior at the end of the Washington game, albeit against the Huskies' second defensive unit.
But it's time to see what the kid's got for a full game.
Barnett doubled-down on his post-Iowa comments on his weekly radio show on Thursday.
"We're looking at everybody. It's wide open. It's still a competition. It will always be that way," Barnett said. "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."
Michigan State's entire program is in a state of uncertainty. Head coach Mel Tucker has been fired, and it's likely that much of the Spartans' current coaching staff will be replaced by whoever takes over the job. MSU's roster could endure a lot of turnover going into 2024.
Rumors and unverified reports have surfaced this week that Houser will in fact replace Kim at starting quarterback next week at Rutgers. While no official announcement has been made by Barnett and Co. — nor should we expect one — there shouldn't be uncertainty around who Michigan State's QB1 should be against the Scarlet Knights.
It's time for the Katin Houser era to begin.
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