NEU » s like he hasnt got so frustrated this

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Tyler OConnors stint as Michigan States starting quarterback may be ending.At the very least, his hold on the job looks awfully tenuous.The Spartans listed OConnor, Damion Terry and Brian Lewerke together atop the depth chart for this weekends game against Northwestern. OConnor has been the starter all season, but he was replaced by Terry late in last weeks loss to Brigham Young .Michigan State (2-3) has lost three in a row for the first time since 2009, a jarring stretch for a program thats won two of the last three Big Ten titles.We dont want to have a quarterback controversy, but we need to have more production, coach Mark Dantonio said Tuesday. Thats what led to this. Need to throw the ball down the field more effectively. Thats play calling and thats execution and route running, things of that nature.Dantonio said OConnor, Terry and Lewerke would be off limits to reporters this week while preparing for the next game. Dantonio didnt go into too much detail about any specific discussions the coaching staff has had about the quarterback situation.He left open the possibility that more than one quarterback could play Saturday.Theres nothing to say that one guy will quarterback the entire day, theres nothing to say that that person wont, Dantonio said. Well make that decision based on what we see this week. Theres a case to be made for every way to go.OConnor was named the starter before the season after spending three years backing up Connor Cook . Hes averaging 195 yards passing a game, good for only ninth in the Big Ten. Dantonio has made it clear he didnt think the fifth-year senior played all that badly against BYU, but the offense has been sputtering.Terry, a junior, has never been Michigan States No. 1 quarterback, but hes played sporadically, often entering games briefly for a change of pace with his running ability. Lewerke, a redshirt freshman, has attempted four passes this season.Brian Lewerke is a young guy with a lot of talent, but he may not quite have the experience that the other guys do, Dantonio said. But I think to exclude him from this right now would be wrong.Tight end Josiah Price said the quarterbacks were rotating in practice Tuesday, and he said he has confidence in whomever plays this weekend. OConnor waited patiently behind Cook, and this season was supposed to be his big chance to lead one of the top teams in the Big Ten -- but now the Spartans are under pressure to turn things around quickly.Its tough to lose three games at Michigan State. Our expectations are high, and a lot of people werent expecting this, and its not easy. We werent expecting it either, Price said. Its tough for everyone. I do think its especially tough for Tyler and Coach D. The people in power get blamed the most.Dantonio indicated that the quarterback competition this week could be part of a larger re-evaluation that the Spartans could certainly use.Well see how it all shakes out, Dantonio said. What well do at the end of all this is well be able to sit there and say, `Whoever we put out there on the field, weve reassessed, we self-scouted ourselves, said this is this guys fault, this is this guys fault. Im not talking about the quarterback, Im talking about other people. Well look at all the different aspects of it and try to make the best decision we can.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtristerDerrius Guice Redskins Jersey . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Custom Washington Redskins Jerseys . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Wes-Martin-Jersey/ . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Sonny Jurgensen Redskins Jersey . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Terry McLaurin Jersey . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night.NORTON, Mass. -- In the 477 days between Rory McIlroys last PGA Tour victory and his ultra-impressive, come-from-behind triumph at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday afternoon, hes been the subject of massive critical analysis.Hes been condemned for too few title contentions and too many back-door top-10s. Blasted for working out too much. Chided for not caring enough about his game -- or possibly caring too much. Razzed for not supporting the Olympics and castigated for comments about growing the game.Ask him which criticism is most unfair and he points to the one about his workout regimen, but quickly concedes that any judgment of his on-course performance is fair game.I dont know if any criticism is unfair, McIlroy said after a final-round 65 lifted him from a 6-stroke deficit to a 2-stroke victory. With my game, the critics and the analysts and everyone that are out there, theyre educated about golf, so they for the most part know what theyre talking about. A criticism of my golf game, I take it, and I know what I need to work on -- and sometimes those people point out the obvious.The obvious in this case was so obvious that he didnt even need to mention it. Thats because all of those criticisms put together didnt equal the negative reviews about his putting.And for good reason.By his own admission, McIlroys putting has largely been abysmal this year. If you dont believe him, just take a look at his PGA Tour ranks: Entering this week, he was 117th in putts per round, 130th in strokes gained putting, 165th in total putting, 189th in putting inside 10 feet and 193rd in three-putt avoidance.Most players would lose their cards with these numbers. McIlroy is such a good ball striker that he was simply losing tournaments.Just a week ago, he did something about it. He switched from a Nike putter to a Scotty Cameron mallet-style model and formalized a working relationship with putting guru Phil Kenyon, who has previously helped the likes of Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen.Something clicked. Check that: Everything clicked.At TPC Boston, McIlroys putting stats were a complete turnaround. He finished seventh in strokes gained putting and first in putting average, and he endured just a lone three-putt all week.To paraphrase Happy Gilmore: Somebody learned how to putt -- uh-oh.Its just incredible, this game, how quickly things can change and how quickly things can turn around, he explained. Its been a great lesson for me this week not to get down on myself, to stay patient.Thoose words illustrated not only his reversal on the greens but also an epic bounce-back after an inauspicious beginning to the tournament.dddddddddddd.Through his opening three holes on Friday morning, McIlroy was already 4 over par -- just two spots away from last place on the leaderboard. He played the remaining 15 holes in 4 under and then posted progressive scores of 67-66-65, all while pointing to that Friday comeback as the key component.I thought its a great opportunity being 4 over through three holes to do something that I had never done before, to be in that position and go on and win a golf tournament, he said. I think even finishing in the top 10 after that start on Friday would have been a very respectable result, but to be sitting up here and have won the tournament, Im very proud of myself for that.McIlroy cited an ever-increasing maturity level and a reluctance to get down on himself as the reasons for this weeks win. That much is true, but so is this: Just a few weeks ago, he wouldnt have been able to make this comeback because he wasnt putting well enough.Thats right. The guy who ranked so far down the list on putting ranks this season won because of his putting this week.His world-class peers took notice, too.Adam Scott: Hes remarkable because hes a bit Teflon-coated, Rory. He gets criticized a lot, everything analyzed, and hes very patient, I think, with it all. To me, it looks like he hasnt got so frustrated this year -- hes just kept doing his thing. And this week hes kind of found some magic in his fingers or something and hes holing everything.Jordan Spieth: The last two weeks, hes been on the practice green every time Ive been there, and before and after. I feel like I work hard on my putting, and hes worked as hard as anybody in the past two weeks on his putting. Its just a little bit of confidence. I mean, it seems to be working for him now.Jason Day: Over the last few days, hes obviously playing pretty well. Its been tough conditions and he thrives under these conditions with his ball striking. And if he gets hot on the greens...Day didnt need to finish that sentence.If McIlroy gets hot with his putting, this is exactly what happens: He finishes the day clutching a big trophy.That much is obvious, just as obvious as the season-long criticism about his putting -- criticism that will disappear after his long-awaited triumph. ' ' '