It was the kind of play that would make him panic last year.
Second and goal. Four minutes to go in the third. Michigan State was up 14-3 against Northwestern, but there was enough time for a crushing momentum shift, something Brian Lewerke and the Michigan State Spartans grew all too accustomed to in 2018.
And so when Lewerke executed the play fake off the snap, and saw a rusher running free on the right side, closing in, his heart must have jumped. Perhaps in 2018, Lewerke, with his confidence as a passer shattered, and his shoulder sore, would have tucked the ball and sprinted forward.