Michigan State QB Sam Leavitt ready to build off of ‘special’ opportunity against Michigan
East Lansing, Mich. – Sam Leavitt realized a dream of his on Sept. 23, when he first stepped onto the Spartan Stadium field during Michigan State’s game against Maryland.
There may have only been 1:30 to go in that contest, but Leavitt – the Spartans’ true freshman quarterback – soaked all of it up. It was, after all, his first taste of Power Five college football.
Flash forward four weeks, and Leavitt was back on the Spartan Stadium grass, but in a much different situation. Michigan State trailed its archrival Michigan, 42-0, with the entire fourth quarter still to play.
With Michigan’s back-ups in the game, and Michigan State simply looking for points, Spartan interim head coach Harlon Barnett inserted Leavitt into the game for Michigan State’s first drive of the fourth quarter.
“You talk about it, playing as a freshman, but once it really comes, it’s pretty special,” Leavitt said. “So I just enjoy the moment and try to do everything I was taught, just run the play.”
The West Linn, Ore., native proceeded to orchestrate Michigan State’s longest drive of the night, a 13-play series that spanned 58 yards in just over five minutes. It didn’t end in points, but Leavitt demonstrated some of the speed, accuracy and arm strength that made him a highly-touted four-star high school recruit.
“I thought I did some good things,” Leavitt said. “I thought a couple times, obviously, my first series of college football, I was a little bit rattled in the pocket. There was one where I should’ve just stepped up and thrown it and I decided to run. Looking back on the film, I didn’t have too many reps but just being able to see the defense, I thought I saw it well. I felt happy about that.”
The play that Leavitt referred to came with 8:50 left in the game. Running back Nathan Carter had just picked up Michigan State’s ninth first-down of the game by rushing eight yards up the gut of Michigan’s defense following a delayed handoff.
Leavitt hurried the offense back to the line of scrimmage and took the snap in shotgun formation. After surveying for a brief moment, Leavitt took off through a hole that appeared in the middle of the offensive line, thanks to the efforts of center Nick Samac and right guard Geno VanDeMark.
But Michigan’s two defensive tackles anticipated Leavitt’s takeoff and disengaged from Samac and VanDeMark to sandwich Leavitt near the line of scrimmage. Perhaps Leavitt was a bit too quick to run on that play, as he noted, but a more positive example of Leavitt’s pocket presence came on a 14-yard keeper just four plays earlier.
On that play, Leavitt identified Michigan EDGE Jaylen Harrell’s quick evasion of Spartan left tackle Brandon Baldwin moments after he snapped the ball. Harrell moved swiftly behind Leavitt in the backfield, but Leavitt promptly stepped up and took off toward the left sideline.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Leavitt used some speed and athleticism to bend toward the sideline and stick his foot out to acquire a new set of downs. Near the end of the run, however, Michigan defensive back DJ Waller made contact with Leavitt and the Michigan State quarterback flipped out of bounds, landing near the feet of several Wolverines.
What looked like a scary ending to an impressive play ended up not being too bad, according to Leavitt.
“I didn’t really get hit hard, my leg got clipped and I landed,” Leavitt said. “It was fun. I had a lot of adrenaline, so I didn’t feel much.”
Nevertheless, Waller drew a late-hit penalty to set the Spartans up 15 yards from the end of the play at their own 47-yard line.
From there, Leavitt showed off his arm. On first-and-10, the freshman completed a six-yard pass on the run to Christian Fitzpatrick. But on second-and-five, Leavitt – under pressure from three Wolverine defenders – overthrew Montorie Foster deep downfield.
Leavitt rebounded from that missed throw and his failed scramble – which occurred two plays later, on first-and-10 – with three straight completions. Leavitt acquired Michigan State’s 10th and final first down of the night on a seven-yard pass to redshirt freshman receiver Antonio Gates, Jr., who ran a short comeback route near the right sideline.
Two plays later, on second-and-12, Leavitt found tight end and fellow freshman Brennan Parachek – who had just recovered from an elbow injury – for a five-yard completion.
Leavitt rifled the pass quickly into Parachek’s body, where Michigan defensive back Rod Moore couldn’t get to it. Leavitt took a sack on the next play thanks to a powerful Michigan blitz, which set up a Michigan State fourth-and-15 from the Michigan 34-yard line.
The Spartans opted to go for it, and Leavitt found a diving Parachek over the middle of the field, right around the first-down marker. Leavitt’s pass zipped into Parachek’s hands and away from Michigan linebacker Ernest Hausmann for what looked like a first down. The officials, however, marked it just short of the line to gain and Michigan State turned the ball over on downs.
Despite the dissatisfying end to Michigan State’s last sustained drive of the game, Leavitt enjoyed the fact that he managed to connect with some of his favorite in-practice targets.
“(Parachek’s) a really good player and there are certain people you have really good timing with, so he’s definitely one of them,” Leavitt said. “Gates, he always wants to get extra work in, so a couple times we’ve gone out and just done stuff along those lines.”
While Leavitt has repped with the likes of Parachek and Gates in the past, his goal for the future is to get comfortable throwing to every receiver on the team.
“You throw to everybody on the team (in games),” Leavitt said. “I didn’t have an offseason too much with them, so definitely this next offseason, just repping with my wide receivers will be big-time.”
On the first play of Michigan State’s next possession, Leavitt rolled to his left and delivered a bullet of a 20-yard pass to Mosley on a comeback route. But Mosley couldn’t handle the pass, and the ball tipped off of his hands and into the hands of Michigan defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows for an interception. That ended Michigan State’s second and final drive of the quarter, not counting its one-play drive with :08 seconds left.
Leavitt finished the night 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) for 32 yards and one interception. While the sample size wasn’t huge, Leavitt walked off the Spartan Stadium field pleased with his performance and grateful for the opportunity, one he wouldn’t have felt as prepared for without those four snaps against Maryland four weeks prior.
“It definitely slowed down after (the Maryland game),” Leavitt said. “You have to see the field, the real game. Playing Michigan, obviously it’s a great team and they have a lot of fast players and stuff like that, but having that first experience against Maryland was definitely beneficial.”
Leavitt’s journey to Michigan State
When Leavitt flipped his commitment from Washington State to Michigan State on Dec. 15, 2022, his goal was to push Noah Kim and Katin Houser for the starting quarterback job.
First, though, he had to learn the offense.
“After I signed my NLI (national letter of intent), I was meeting with Jake Reiling a lot during the summer before I came here, just doing online Zooms – learning the offense, what we have to do in different situations, learning the defense, all the terminology, things along that line,” Leavitt said.
That was time well spent, according to Leavitt. He said he got a good handle of things before he enrolled at Michigan State in June. But once Leavitt arrived in East Lansing for summer practice, he quickly learned that simply knowing the offense is a lot different from running it live, against other Big Ten-caliber players.
“I was set up pretty well coming in here, but it was definitely different once you get live and have to do things at a different speed rather than watching it on tape,” Leavitt said. “So I did a lot coming into this, but it was definitely a big step up, having to perform live.”
Still, though, Leavitt competed to try to make up ground with Kim and Houser. He worked from somewhat of a disadvantage, having enrolled just over two months before the season opener. But Spartan coaches continued to reiterate to the media that Leavitt was in the mix for the starting job during August camp.
“Going into fall camp, obviously my goal was to become the starter and that’s everyday what I’m always trying to do,” Leavitt said. “It felt like I was in the mix somewhat, (but) I was at the No. 3 spot so I knew it was going to be a long journey. So I was just taking it day-by-day, what I can do to get better in that moment and just progress from there.”
Kim, however, won the starting job and started the first five games of the season. Leavitt ended up as Michigan State’s No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart, behind Houser. Regardless of his position on the depth chart during August camp, Leavitt felt the competition drove him to compete as hard as he could.
“I feel like everyday my end goal is to make it to the NFL and get there,” Leavitt said. “So it’s everyday, what can I do to get better?”
Leavitt has continued to practice hard, and with Kim now partially sidelined with an undisclosed injury, Leavitt has risen to the No. 2 spot on the depth chart, behind Houser.
Leavitt credited multiple upperclassmen, including Samac and Mosley, for helping him get comfortable during his first few months on campus. But Leavitt pointed to Kim as one of the more influential players in his continued development as a collegiate quarterback.
“It’s with everything you do,” Leavitt said of the lessons he’s taken from Kim. “It’s not just showing up to practice and trying to perform, but it’s how much film do you watch? How well do you take care of your body? Things along those lines. So he just put into perspective that it takes more than just ball, it’s about how you carry yourself in life.”
Leavitt also took inspiration from his father, Jared, and brother, Dallin. His father was a two-year football letterwinner for BYU in the early 1990s, and his brother currently plays safety for the Green Bay Packers.
“It’s a blessing. Everyday I get to wake up and be surrounded by people who’ve done it,” Leavitt said. “They know what it takes to get there. I saw what it took my dad to get to the level he was at, it’s unfortunate for his career to be ended early with a neck injury. But my brother, seeing the work that he put in and just the way they explain the process to me and what you have to do every single day, the consistency. It’s a blessing just to have those people in my life.”
With help from teammates, family and coaches, Leavitt believes he has improved in multiple areas since arriving in East Lansing in June. Learning to operate behind a bigger, more physical offensive line has made the other facets of the game that much easier to learn.
“They’re a lot bigger, so being able to see lanes and moving the pocket, learning that there’s a sweet spot in the pocket and you have to stay in that, being able to see players’ breaks and timing,” Leavitt said. “So I feel like timing, pocket presence and just understanding the game better (are areas I’ve improved in).”
Leavitt said his command of the offense has grown as well, especially when it comes to making checks at the line of scrimmage.
“I feel like I’m pretty comfortable now,” Leavitt said. “It was definitely a lot of work at first and it was a lot of just understanding the offense, so just becoming more comfortable with that. I feel like I’m pretty comfortable now and being able to see things better.”
Realizing he still has ways to go in his development, Leavitt plans to use his performance against Michigan as a stepping stone during practice. Like his teammates, Leavitt’s primary goal for the remainder of the season is to get a win. The Spartans’ next chance at accomplishing that will come against Minnesota this Saturday in Minneapolis.
“A lot of the players on the team, we’re going about it in the best way possible,” Leavitt said. “Everyday, just coming in and seeing what we need to improve on and getting better in every respect of the game. Watching the film and seeing what we can do better, so I feel like we’re taking a really good approach.”
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