Blue White Illustrated

Michigan State Postgame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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Akeel Lynch fought his way into the end zone, capping a 10-play, 79-yard drive late in the third quarter for Penn State's first touchdown of the game. On a snow-covered Senior Day at Beaver Sta- dium, the effort drew a cheer from the fans still in the house, but the damage had already been done. With the Nittany Lions trailing No. 10 Michigan State, 27-10, any real opportunity for a joyous send-off had long passed. Penn State went on to lose to the Spartans, 34- 10, and head coach James Franklin summed up the outcome succinctly. Said the Lions' head coach, "We had an opportunity to make some plays, weren't able to do that and had some crit- ical mistakes." Certainly, the game's opening kickoff was of no help. Wrangling Sam Ficken's squib kickoff at his own 10-yard line, Michigan State return man R.J. P O S T G A M E R E P O R T W E E K 1 2 M I C H I G A N S T A T E 3 4 , P E N N S T A T E 1 0 N o V E m B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 4 B l U E w h i t E o N l i N E . c o m THE GAME AT A GLANCE GOOD NEWSThe de- fense kept things close until midway through the third quarter, when a short-field Michigan State touchdown drive sealed the deal. Also, the offense snapped to life briefly late in that same quarter with a 79- yard TD drive. BAD NEWS Penn State had great field posi- tion throughout the second quarter but managed only three points. Had it been able to cash in on a couple of those pos- sessions, the second half might have played out differently. Or not. After Penn State trimmed the deficit to 17 points, its offense didn't show much ur- gency in going three- and-out on its subsequent drive. THE TAKEAWAY Penn State doesn't have enough offensive firepower to hang in there with a team as good as Michigan State. The good news for the Nittany Lions is that they're going bowling anyway. 1 BIG MAPLE Lynch scored the Lions' only touchdown on a third-quarter run. Photo by Patrick Mansell N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B l U E w h i t E o N l i N E . c o m Game of chance Lions unable to turn field position into points in finale

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