East Lansing — When Rocky Lombardi thought about making his college football debut, it was almost certainly throwing the ball.
But the redshirt freshman had made it clear — he wanted to get on the field however he could for Michigan State. So, when punter Jake Hartbarger injured his kicking leg nearly two weeks ago at Arizona State, the Spartans turned to Lombardi.
The backup quarterback responded with a respectable 32-yard punt with a return that lost 2 yards.
“It was acceptable considering the circumstances,” Lombardi said.
The circumstances were far from what anyone was expecting.