Maxwell, Spartan offense bounce back during week two matchup

Michigan State junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell and an inexperienced Spartan receiving core looked a bit out of sync in week one.

Things looked better against Central Michigan Saturday.

Maxwell completed 20 of his 31 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns in the Spartans’ 41-7 rout of the Chippewas.

“He’s a good player,” CMU head coach Dan Enos said. “Talking to their coaches, I know they like him a lot.  I liked him a lot when I was there. He’s a great young man who is very poised.  He’ll be a great player for them in that league.”

Maxwell spread the ball around to several different receivers against CMU. Junior Bennie Fowler led the way, catching eight passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.

“We’re going to continue to be positive and use this as a motivator moving forward,” Fowler said. “I think we made a lot of progress. Maxwell hit a lot of receivers today; a lot of guys got a chance to touch the ball. We will continue to get better as the weeks go on. We had better timing this week.”

Sophomore Keith Mumphery caught four passes for 52 yards, and junior tight end Dion Sims added three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown.

The Spartans also saw freshmen receivers Macgarrett Kings Jr. and Aaron Burbridge for the first time, making them ineligible for a redshirt. Head coach Mark Dantonio said he and his staff will look to get them more involved as the season moves on.

“It’s tough because you want to make sure that if you’re going to play your freshmen, they’re going to continue to play,” he said. “We talked about it on the sideline, and we think they have great skills; they wanted to play.”

Junior running back Le’Veon Bell was held to 71 yards rushing after running for 210 yards in week one, forcing MSU to step up its pass game.

“We never want to be one-dimensional, because, once you do that, you can become no-dimensional.” Maxwell said. “In order to be effective in one, you have to be effective in both. “

MSU takes on Notre Dame next weekend at Spartan Stadium.