Penn State finished its regular season with its fourth straight victory in a 35-16 win over the Michigan State Spartans. This game was a bit closer than the past three, but the Nittany Lions offense stepped up late and put the game out of reach. 10 wins is a huge accomplishment for this team. I don’t think many experts had them winning more than eight games. In my preseason write-up I had the team finishing with nine wins, so I’m thrilled with 10 and Nittany Lions fans should be too. 

In his last game in Beaver Stadium, Sean Clifford played very well. Penn State’s all-time leading passer finished the game 19-of-24 with 202 yards and four touchdowns. Clifford threw some really nice passes in this game that led to touchdowns. When it looked like Michigan State was building momentum for a comeback, Clifford marched the Lions down the field for the dagger. On fourth-and-2 from the Spartans 2-yard line, James Franklin put his cojones on the table and had Mike Yurcich dial up a screen pass to Nick Singleton that led to a score. Jake Pinegar missed two field goals, so I liked the idea of going for it, but when I saw four receivers split wide, my heart dropped. Luckily, Singleton is a stud and was able to slip past the defense. 

For the fourth week in a row, I’ll sing the praises of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. It really is scary for the rest of the Big Ten that these two have at least two more years of running the ball for Penn State. Singleton ran for 78 yards on 17 carries while Allen tacked on 82 yards on 21 carries. The key to beating the Michigan State defense was running the ball, and that’s exactly what Penn State was able to do. Running the ball opened up the passing game, and Clifford was able to find some wide open targets. It even opened up a 48-yard double pass touchdown from KeAndre Lambert-Smith to Theo Johnson. The fourth quarter proved that the offense has the ability to go down and get a score when it needs one. That’s very promising for if the bowl game comes down to a two-minute drill. 

What can you say about the Nittany Lions defense? This unit is as legit as any defense in the entire country. The Lions were able to pressure Payton Thorne all game and forced him to throw what turned out to be a game-sealing interception. Thorne finished the game 24-of-43 for 229 yards, two total touchdowns, and the aforementioned interception. The Spartans run game struggled. On 25 carries, the team had 25 rushing yards. Michigan State seemingly could only move the ball down the field if Thorne tossed up a prayer and a Spartans receiver came down with it. That strategy worked on a couple occasions, but Ji’Ayir Brown and Kalen King sniffed it out. Abdul Carter had another great game with a team-high seven tackles and two sacks. He’s another incredibly exciting freshman that’ll only get better with more games under his belt. 

It seems like the Nittany Lions have locked themselves into a New Year’s Six bowl game with all the top 10 losses around the country, but if that doesn’t happen, expect the Citrus Bowl.