Blue White Illustrated

ded Penn State's defense for 400 yards through the air, completing throws to an array of sure-handed receivers even when the down-and-distance situa- tions seemingly favored the Nittany Lions. "I've been doing this for 23 years. Never been a part of a 3-hour and 22- minute delay," coach James Franklin said. "We probably don't need to talk about it anymore because it's an excuse. We didn't win the field-position battle. We didn't win the turnover battle. That to me is the story of the game. You turn the ball over three times, you only get one, especially on the road, you're going to have a hard day, you're going to have a long day since the beginning of time." Penn State dropped to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State improved to 7-2 and 5-1 and maintained control of its destiny in the Big Ten East Division. If it beats Ohio State, Maryland and Rutgers in its final three regular-sea- son games, it will represent the East in Indianapolis. Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • Not much to report here, but Tariq Castro-Fields and Amani Oruwariye made a couple of nice plays in the sec- ondary. Oruwariye had one of the better plays of Penn State's much-longer- than-expected a?ernoon in East Lans- ing, keeping both feet in-bounds on an interception that thwarted a fourth- quarter Michigan State drive deep in Nit- tany Lion territory. • On a day when the Lions needed to rely almost exclusively on the passing game for yards and points, Trace McSor- ley had to carry the offense, and he was able to complete 26 of 47 passes for 381 yards and three touchdowns. However, he also threw three interceptions, the last of which stopped a late Penn State drive with the score tied. The Nittany Lions like to take their shots, and the risk-reward calculus has usually worked in their favor the past two years. That approach delivered a 70-yard touchdown on Saturday when McSorley connected with DeAndre Thompkins on the final play of the third quarter. But it also delivered some pain; the intercep- tion to David Dowell with just under nine minutes to play was a hammer blow to Penn State. THE BAD • The roughing-the-passer penalty on Marcus Allen during Michigan State's final drive was a backbreaking play for Penn State. It negated a stop on third- and-4 that would have le? the Spartans with a fourth down at the edge of Cogh- lin's field goal range. Those 15 yards pushed him well into his range, making a last-second attempt all but inevitable. • The Lions seemed to have a harder time handling the slick field conditions than the Spartans did. The receivers had a few drops, the biggest of which was by Thompkins on fourth-and-3 late in the game. He would have gotten the first down if he had come down with the ball, which appeared to be on-target, and Penn State would have been in great po- sition to take the lead in the final four minutes. But instead, Michigan State got the ball back and held it for the duration. "They played in the same conditions that we did," Franklin said. "They han- dled it better than we did at the end of the day." • The Nittany Lion ground game was ineffective, producing only 65 yards. That wasn't entirely unexpected. Michi- gan State went into the matchup allow- ing only 89.8 yards per game against the run, fourth-best in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Nittany Lions, who were without injured tackle Ryan Bates, seemed to concede that they weren't going to be able to run the ball, as Saquon Barkley got only 14 carries and rushed for 63 yards. "Our offense struggled at times today and we haven't been running the ball SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 5:40 PSU Hamilton, DaeSean 31-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 7 plays, 92 yards, TOP 3:00........................................................ 7-0 3:28 MSU Stewart, D. 7-yard pass from Lewerke, Brian (Coghlin, Matt kick) 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 2:07.......................................................... 7-7 0:42 PSU Blacknall, Saeed 27-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:46........................................................14-7 2ND 3:54 MSU Davis, Felton 33-yard pass from Lewerke, Brian (Coghlin, Matt kick) 5 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:24..................................................... 14-14 3RD 7:25 MSU Scott, L.J. 3-yard run (Coghlin, Matt kick) 10 plays, 91 yards, TOP 5:10..................................................... 14-21 2:11 PSU Davis, Tyler 26-yard field goal 12 plays, 71 yards, TOP 5:08......................................................17-21 0:00 PSU Thompkins, DeAndre 70-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 1 play, 70 yards, TOP 0:05....................................................... 24-21 4TH 10:56 MSU Coghlin, Matt 32-yard field goal 11 plays, 45 yards, TOP 3:59................................................... 24-24 0:00 MSU Coghlin, Matt 34-yard field goal 10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 4:05................................................. 24-27 N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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