Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1038050
P R E G A M E R E P O R T M I C H I G A N S T A T E @ P E N N S T A T E T I M E 3 : 3 0 P . M . , O C T . 1 3 | T V B T N MICHIGAN STATE FACTS COACH Mark Dantonio (South Carolina, '79) COACH'S RECORD 103-47 (61-31 Big Ten) in 12 seasons at Michigan State; career record: 121-64 2018 RECORD 3-2, 1-1 Big Ten RECORD VS. PSU The Spartans lead the all-time series, 16-15-1. MOST RECENT MEETING Brian Lewerke threw for 400 yards, and Michigan State rallied past the visiting Lions, 27-24, following a three-and-a-half hour rain delay on Nov. 4, 2017. GOOD NEWS Michigan State may be headed to PSU on the heels of a disappoint- ing home loss to Northwestern, but the Spartans have been a re- silient bunch lately. They haven't lost consecutive games since ending their 2016 season with back-to-back losses to Ohio State and Penn State. BAD NEWS Rushing is usually a Michigan State strength, but this year, the Spartans are 109th in the country with an average of 123 yards per game on the ground. DID YOU KNOW? When Dantonio led Michigan State to a 42-17 victory over Washington State in the 2017 Hol- iday Bowl, he became only the eighth active Football Bowl Sub- division head coach with 100 or more wins at his current school. The others: Nick Saban (Al- abama), Dabo Swinney (Clem- son), Gary Patterson (TCU), Bill Snyder (Kansas State), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Kyle Whittingham (Utah) and Kirk Fer- entz (Iowa). M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M It ought to be a battle of unbeatens this weekend in Beaver Stadium. That, at any rate, is how some of the participants, and maybe all, view Sat- urday's matchup between Penn State and Michigan State. Had a tired de- fense been able to hold on for a few more minutes against Ohio State, the Nittany Lions would be sporting a perfect record heading into their homecoming matchup. And the Spar- tans? They, too, think their record doesn't entirely reflect the quality of their team. "I feel like we should be 5-0," coach Mark Dantonio said earlier this week. The Spartans are not 5-0. They are 3-2, and they could easily be 2-3, as Utah State was leading late in the fourth quarter in East Lansing on Both teams may find rushing yards hard to come by on Saturday Due to a se- ries of injuries in the back- field and on the offensive line, Danto- nio's Spar- tans have had great dif- ficulty run- ning the ball, ranking 13th in the Big Ten with an aver- age of 123 yards per game on the ground. Photo by Bryan Fuller/MGoB- log.com 1 O C T O B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M NOWHERE TO RUN