Grading No. 6 MSU's 55-16 win over Penn State
Offense: 9
MSU kept his status a secret all week, but Connor Cook didn’t give himself the green light until after warmups on Saturday. It was the right call. The senior passed for 248 yards in his final game at Spartan Stadium, going 19 for 26 to seven different receivers and finding three of them for touchdown passes. Receiver Aaron Burbridge’s 29-yard score was something out of a video game, and running back Gerald Holmes put up 100 yards of offense on 12 grinding carries and three catches. Most importantly, MSU’s finally healthy offensive line continued to dominate in the trenches and held Penn State — which entered the game leading the nation in sacks — without one on the afternoon. Center Jack Allen even got in on the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run.
Defense: 7
It wasn’t close to the dominant performance the Spartans put forth against Ohio State a week earlier, but their defense did it in different ways against Penn State. Safety Demetrious Cox scored on a second-quarter fumble return and defensive tackle Malik McDowell ran back an interception for a touchdown. Cornerback Arjen Colquhoun also had an interception. The Spartans sacked PSU quarterback Christian Hackenberg twice and hurried him seven other times. The junior still managed to throw for 257 yards, and freshman running back Saquon Barkley ran for 103. MSU also whiffed on a few tackles and allowed short passing plays to turn into longer gains. But despite some of those misses, the secondary did a decent job of wrapping up for the most part. Darian Hicks and Montae Nicholson each had nine, Cox had seven, and the big plays came at momentum-swinging moments.
Special teams: 7
Kevin Cronin’s game-opening kickoff went out of bounds for a penalty. Michael Geiger didn’t get a chance to duplicate his heroics at Ohio State, but the junior missed his first PAT kick. Beyond that, though, MSU’s special teams had a solid day. It included a late fumble recovery on a kickoff that turned into a Spartan TD, and they also looked solid in covering both punt and kickoffs. Credit MSU’s return team for handling Penn State’s planned short kickoffs that were designed to keep the ball away from R.J. Shelton. And kudos to senior long snapper Taybor Pepper, who made a tackle on a punt in his final home game.
Coaching: 9
Mark Dantonio himself brought up the term “Same Ol’ Spartans” during the week. This was the perfect time for that phrase to reappear, with two backup quarterbacks leading a mammoth shocker against Ohio State a week ago and the euphoria of having still-alive College Football Playoff hopes. Those days are dead. MSU took care of business from the outset, not looking past Penn State to the expected Big Ten Championship Game showdown against Iowa that wouldn’t have happened without a win Saturday. The defense is in the right spots and playing its opportunistic best, the offense is showing depth in playmakers and creativity in play-calling, and the Spartans seemingly keep improving week to week as the calendar prepares to flip into the postseason.
Bottom line: 2
While addressing Spartan Stadium after the game, Dantonio reminded everyone there that MSU’s mission this season was to “Reach Higher.” He made his players literally put their hands in the air, holding the Big Ten East Division championship trophy above their heads on the grass turf. Dantonio uses the phrase “4 to 1” when telling his team it needs to be more mentally tough than physically strong. But it’s also about the steps it will take to win a national championship. A division title was the first. Check. Getting to the College Football Playoffs and winning there are the third and fourth. But those others can’t be achieved if the Spartans don’t’ win next week’s Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa. And that’s Step 2.