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opening night before the hosts rallied to score the winning touchdown with two minutes left. Still, you can understand the cognitive dissonance that Dantonio and his players are experiencing. They re- turned 19 starters from a team that went 10-3 last year and ended its season by trouncing Washington State in the Holi- day Bowl, 42-17. They were supposed to be part of the Big Ten East Division champi- onship conversation. In his Big Ten season preview, SB Na- tion's Bill Connolly predicted that with its combination of stout defense and powerhouse running, Michigan State "has a chance to win a lot." Maybe it will; the season is still young. But while the Spartans have been stout on defense, surrendering only 33.8 rushing yards per game to rank first in the Football Bowl Subdivision in that category, they have underperformed on offense, mainly because of a series of injuries that have hindered that seemingly powerful ground game. Senior running back L.J. Scott was knocked out of the Arizona State game in week two with an ankle injury and hasn't been back. He dressed for last week's game against Northwestern but didn't see ac- tion. Dantonio said he thinks Scott is close to being ready, but added, "I don't think he feels like he can cut as successfully as he usually does, so he makes that decision. And I'm OK with whatever he needs to do. At some point, he'll be ready to play." In Scott's absence, sophomore Connor Heyward has received the majority of the carries but has not had much success, to- taling 147 yards on 42 attempts. True freshman La'Darius Jefferson has totaled 125 yards on 32 attempts. Scott, Heyward and Jefferson are all averaging less than 4 yards per attempt. But the biggest problem with the run- ning game is not the tailback situation; it's the offensive line. The Spartans can't seem to keep anyone healthy up front. They had a quartet of returning starters ready to go in the preseason, but all four of them – guards David Beedle and Kevin Jarvis and tackles Cole Chewins and Luke Camp- bell – have missed playing time due to in- juries. Beedle started at left guard last week against Northwestern, having recov- ered from a leg injury that he suffered at Arizona State in September, but two plays into the game, he hurt his left arm. Now he's expected to be out for a month. It's been that kind of season in East Lansing. Forced to rely almost exclusively on its passing attack, Michigan State lost to 2 Lewerke threw for 400 yards against the Nittany Lions last year in a game that the Spartans won, 27-24, on a last-second field goal. The junior quar- terback is ranked sec- ond in the Big Ten this year with an average of 265.6 passing yards per game. Photo by Steve Manuel 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 Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics is continuing to urge football fans to be cautious of counterfeit tickets with the Nittany Lions' homecoming game set for Saturday. The ticketing staff at the Beaver Sta- dium gates and ticket windows and university police confiscated more than 300 counterfeit tickets before and during the Nittany Lions' most recent home game, against Ohio State on Sept. 29. More than 300 fans who thought they had purchased official Penn State tickets for the game vs. the Buckeyes tried to gain admittance with counterfeit tickets and were denied entry. Nittany Lion football fans are being reminded by Penn State Athletics to be cautious of counterfeit tickets, includ- ing the print-at-home format and ille- gally reproduced single-game tickets purchased from nonauthorized sources, for all remaining home games this season. Penn State continues to encourage fans buying tickets to only purchase them through Penn State authorized sources. The Penn State Athletic Ticket Office and Ticketmaster are the only authorized sources for tickets to Nittany Lion athletic home events. Fans purchasing tickets from unautho- rized sources (including StubHub, Vivid Seats, Craigslist, eBay, and ticket brokers) assume the risk that tickets purchased are counterfeit or the bar- codes have been invalidated. Anyone attempting to enter Beaver Stadium with a counterfeit or invalid barcode on their ticket will be denied entry. Surge in counterfeit tickets prompts new warning from PSU Athletics

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