It's Penn State-Michigan State week: Kick time, the spread, early storylines, and more

Penn State-Michigan State, and more importantly Land Grant Trophy week, is here.

The regular season finale for both sides will not have Big Ten title game implications like it once appeared that it could. The Nittany Lions (7-4) enter the contest off a 28-0 shutout win over Rutgers.

We faced as much adversity in this game as I’ve been around,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “We had 35 guys out for one reason or another. 21 guys because of the flu. 14 guys who had the flu and played through it. 

“A lot of good things, obviously a lot of things to correct as well. Hopefully, we’ll get everybody back. We had a few more issues here after the game, hopefully, we’ll get everybody back for next week because obviously, we’re going to need it on the road against a great opponent.”

Michigan State (9-2) is fresh off a 56-7 blowout loss at Ohio State. The Spartans’ other loss this season came to Purdue.

Let’s preview the week ahead.

Time and TV info

Kickoff will be at either 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

On the radio side of things, Steve Jones, Jack Ham, and Brian Tripp will have the call on the Penn State Sports Network and its radio and streaming affiliates.

The Penn State-Michgian State spread

According to the VegasInsider consensus, Penn State is a 1.5-point favorite.

Game week schedule for Penn State

It is a condensed week for the Nittany Lions because of Thanksgiving.

James Franklin will hold his weekly news conference on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. Later that day, he’ll appear on the Penn State Coaches Show, which is moved up two days because of the holiday. Players will also likely do conference calls with reporters on this day, as well.

The leader of the Nittany Lions is then expected to address reporters on Wednesday, and that should be it for the week until after the game. In years past, Penn State has held a short Thursday practice in the morning and then players are free to either go home if they live close to State College or gather with teammates and coaches otherwise.

Join Blue-White Illustrated and On3 today for just $1 dollar for an annual subscription. Learn more here.

What’s up with the Spartans?

Michigan State entered Saturday’s matchup with the Buckeyes hoping to pull off an upset. Instead, the 18-point underdogs were topped by more than double that already wide margin.

The Spartans’ pass defense was again exposed. The Buckeyes threw for six touchdowns and ran for two more scores in the lopsided victory.

Back Kenneth Walker III, who came into the contest sporting a resume that ranked up there with the other top Heisman Trophy candidates, was bottled up. He had just 25 yards rushing on six carries as MSU was forced to throw early and often after going down big in the first quarter. He is still their biggest weapon as passing is not a particular area of strength.

“That’s a very talented team,” Spartans coach Mel Tucker said. “In all three phases, they outplayed us. They beat us, they were the much better team today and that was obvious.

“They can score early, they get up on you, get the crowd into it and then it’s a wrap. We knew what they were capable of doing, and we knew we had to stop them; we didn’t stop them.”

Penn State-Michigan State notes

–The all-time series is tied 17-17-1.

–Penn State is riding a two-game winning streak, as it picked up a 2019 victory at Spartan Stadium by a 28-7 count before winning 39-24 a year ago.

–MSU has two Pa., natives on its roster in quarterback Anthony Russo (Archbishop Wood) and linebacker Cal Haladay (Southern Columbia). The Lions have eight Michigan natives on their roster.

Weather outlook

Here’s the early projection from Weather.com:

“Mostly cloudy skies. High 34F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.”

Early Penn State-Michigan State storylines

–Will either head coach ink a contract extension before kickoff? Rumors are swirling that Franklin could be close to doing so. Tucker is said to have a nearly $100 million deal on the table.

–Who will start at quarterback, Sean Clifford or Christian Veilleux?

–Can Penn State’s stout run defense slow down Walker? Michigan State will undoubtedly plan to try and run the ball like Illinois did on the Lions a few weeks back.

–Which Penn State players will be back after at least 20 missed the Rutger game either due to the flu or other reasons? Conversely, who will still be out?

–Should we expect to see a bunch of Landon Tengwall again at tackle? Will any other young Nittany Lions play more?