Penn State rolls over Michigan State, 45-12
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Damion Terry had his head drooped with a towel hanging over it. Brandon Clemons walked over and put his arm around his fellow Pennsylvania product, whispering in his ear.
It wasn’t even halftime. Injuries ended both of their days, far shorter than they had hoped for or anticipated.
It was the perfect visual summarization of Michigan State’s season, one that’s ending much earlier than the Spartans ever could have imagined three months ago.
The Spartans moved the ball early but failed to capitalize other than field goals, and No. 8 Penn State built momentum with three quick-strike, deep-ball touchdown passes to open the second half en route to a 45-12 victory Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
“A disappointing outcome to a disappointing season,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said afterward.
The loss ends MSU’s season with a 3-9 record and 1-8 mark in Big Ten play, the Spartans’ worst overall and league records since 1982. The Spartans already were assured to be without a bowl game for the first time in coach Dantonio’s 10 seasons with last week’s loss to Ohio State.
“The season for these (returning) guys starts tomorrow,” senior receiver R.J. Shelton said. “They need to come together and work. Now, they see what a season like this does to them if you don’t come focused and do what you need to do.”
Penn State (10-2, 8-1) claimed its first Big Ten East Division title with the win and Ohio State’s victory over Michigan. The Nittany Lions will play Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game next week at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Terry was knocked out midway through the second quarter with a concussion after getting his first career start at quarterback, with Tyler O’Connor serving as his backup but also starting at wide receiver.
Junior Terry finished 7 of 12 for 101 yards passing and 13 yards on four carries. Fifth-year senior O’Connor went 17 of 33 for 118 yards. He was sacked four times.
“I felt horrible,” O’Connor said of the hit on Terry. “I saw the play. To me, I don’t know how it wasn’t helmet-to-helmet, because he got clocked on the head. He stood up, and his head was kind of everywhere.”
MSU’s offense went kaput when Terry left the game. Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley launched touchdown passes of 34, 45 and 59 yards on the Nittany Lions’ first three drives of the second half. The Spartans managed just 32 yards on their four possessions, which included an O’Connor fumble and a pair of sacks.
Despite being unable to finish off their drives, the Spartans dominated Penn State offensively in the first half – 256-125 in total yards, 86-14 in rushing yards.
After halftime, the Nittany Lions throttled MSU on both sides – 338-87 in total yards. Penn State threw for 261 of its 386 yards in the final two quarters.
“I thought we played disciplined in the first half. I thought we were attacking them,” senior linebacker Riley Bullough said. “It was a different story in the second half. They made some plays.”
The Spartans now enter the offseason with another looming quarterback competition, more to replace on the offensive and (likely) defensive lines and just as many questions about who may or may not return on a coaching staff that produced one of the biggest drop-offs in recent history in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Terry got his first career start at quarterback – alongside fifth-year senior O’Connor, who flanked out at wide receiver for MSU’s first offensive play. The junior from Erie, Pennsylvania, looked sharp on some throws and shaky on others, with the first two drives sputtering in the red zone and leading to Michael Geiger field goals of 28 and 36 yards.
Following a Penn State field goal early in the second quarter, Terry again had the Spartans moving into the red zone again. But on second-and-7 from the Nittany Lions’ 21, Terry kept the ball on an option run around the right side. Jason Cabinda and Robert Windsor converged. Terry took a helmet-to-helmet collision and was woozy. MSU’s medical staff quickly rushed to his aid and ushered him to the sideline and put him through concussion protocol. He was ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion.
O’Connor replaced him, but the Spartans’ drive again stalled. Geiger’s 33-yard field goal gave MSU a 9-3 edge with 7:17 left in the quarter.
Penn State responded with a Saquon Barkley 1-yard leap late in the half, but O’Connor got MSU into the red zone one final time to set up Geiger’s fourth field goal of the day, from 21 yards out, to send MSU into halftime with a 12-10 cushion.
McSorley finished 17 of 23 for 376 yards and four touchdowns. Penn State added salt into MSU’s wounds by continuing to throw the ball with the outcome already determined in the fourth quarter, a shot at the Spartans for running former offensive lineman Jack Allen for a touchdown in last year’s game in East Lansing, a 55-16 MSU win.
“You know what they say about paybacks – 55-16 last year, I guess they felt …,” Dantonio said, his voice softening and trailing off. “We gotta make the plays to stop them.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.
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