Penn State-Michigan State Takeaways: Lions earn 10th victory on up-and-down day
STATE COLLEGE — No. 11 Penn State is 10-2 after defeating Michigan State 35-16 on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Lions had a big lead, but then their advantage shrunk to only a one-score margin. But, ultimately, head coach James Franklin’s team was never in danger of being upset by the Spartans, who were massive underdogs before kickoff at Beaver Stadium.
Here are our initial takeaways.
It was an up-and-down day for the Penn State offense
This is an obvious place to start. Yes, we’re aware that the Lions put up 35 points. But this is not a stellar Michigan State defense, and yet it bottled up the Penn State rushing attack for most of the game, and the Lions could not pass consistently enough to beat that tactic. The third quarter was especially brutal. The Lions had a mere 47 yards and finished with a loss of 4 on the ground in the third frame.
We all know what the Penn State offense is at this point, of course. When it’s forced off-schedule and into endless throwing situations, things usually do not go well. That was the case for most of this game. It’s true that the team did enough to win, but it wasn’t the greatest performance Mike Yurcich and his players have had this season.
We will note, though, that after everything Sean Clifford has been through during his time as a Lion, it was cool to see him toss a touchdown on his final pass at Beaver Stadium. He finished with four passing scores on the day. But, Penn State averaged only 3.6 yards per carry.
That said, the tight ends were active and involved
Penn State fans have been begging for the tight ends to be a bigger part of the game plan as designed receivers. On this day, they got their wish. Theo Johnson had three catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns, one of which came off a beautiful long pass by receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith on a trick play. Tyler Warren caught a touchdown, too. And, Brenton Strange was on the stat sheet with two catches for 17 yards. It was a nice day for Ty Howle’s group.
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Ji’Ayir Brown will be missed
It’s been a pleasure watching Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown during his time at Penn State. The senior went out on top Saturday. He forced a fumble that led to a Nittany Lions touchdown and tied for a team-high with seven tackles. He also had quarterback hurry in the win.
Brown has grown tremendously during his time in State College. He’s going to make a very good pro starting next season. Hopefully, he’ll play in the bowl game. But, if not, he finished his time in blue and white in a perfect way. He was aggressive, smart, and around the ball often. It says a lot that he plays special teams, as well, and tells you all you need to know about No. 16.
Penn State outperformed expectations
If you go back and look at the season-long win/loss predictions from August, many people pegged this team to be either 8-4 or 9-3. However, the Lions won 10 regular-season games for the first time since 2019. They are not in the College Football Playoff mix, of course, and again lost to Ohio State and Michigan. But, a winning season is something a lot of programs won’t have, and the same goes for a 10-2 record ahead of bowl season.
Considering that this was seen as a rebuilding year of sorts by many, the Lions won all the games they were supposed to, and there’s something to be said about that in a positive light.
