Michigan State football went on the road and dropped a pivotal game against Illinois on Saturday afternoon, 38-16, in a game that played a touch closer than the score.
Another tough loss for the Spartans in Jonathan Smith’s first year, this one in particular showed that there is a ton of things the Spartans need to fix and clean up.
For starters, there are two to three key positions that NEED to see changes.
Ashton Lepo at the right tackle position is a liability. While the offensive line unit as a whole has not been productive, Lepo has been abysmal. Graded consistently as the worst on the Spartans offensive line by PFF, Lepo has an awful 43.8 pass block rating by PFF.
Who replaces Lepo?
True freshman Rakeem Johnson has shown the ability to be an effective offensive lineman at this level, and quite frankly, it cannot get worse than Lepo – making it time to give Johnson a serious shot at the tackle spot to build for next year.
