Watch Penn State head coach James Franklin's postgame press conference
Penn State won’t be going to the College Football Playoff this season, but with a New Year’s Six Bowl still realistic and a short week of practice, Nittany Lion fans have to feel good following Friday night’s 42-0 win over Michigan State in the regular season finale.
Earlier in the week, Penn State head coach James Franklin hinted that quarterback Drew Allar should be good after leaving last week’s game early. Not only was he healthy, but it ended up being one of Allar’s best games of the season, as the former five-star threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns while completing 17 of 26 attempts. It also didn’t hurt that both Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton had two of their best performances of the season, with both players totaling over 100 yards rushing. Allen finished with 137 yards on 15 carries (9.1 YPC), while Singleton had 118 yards on 18 carries (6.6 YPC).
“I think they both had great years in the run game,” Franklin said, referring to Allen and Singleton. “In my mind, they matched the expectations in the run game, in the pass game, when it comes to protection, they both clearly got better this year as overall running backs. I think there have probably been some other games where we could have gotten them a few more yards but we got them out, trying to manage that situation and keep them healthy.
“But yeah, to see them both finish with 100 yards and get into the end zone was cool. I know that’s something our O-line takes a ton of pride in as well.”
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Link: Highs & Lows: Penn State crushes Michigan State to cap B1G slate
However, as we’ve often seen this season, Penn State’s defensive unit was the star of the show. Not only did the Nittany Lions get their third shutout of the season, but they held Michigan State to just 68 yards in the game. The total yardage discrepancy was by far the biggest gap we’ve seen in any game this season, as the Nittany Lions racked up 586 yards, their highest total of the season.
Edge rusher Adisa Isaac led the defense with seven tackles, but with Penn State totaling 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks, there was no shortage of standout performances. Linebacker Abdul Carter finished with two sacks of his own, while safety Jaylen Reed had an impressive interception during Michigan State’s first drive of the game. That first drive ended up being MSU’s best of the game. In fact, six of the Spartans’ 12 drives ended up in negative yardage.
