3 Up, 3 Down: Michigan State blown out by Penn State in season-finale

A football season which seemed like it was over before it had barely begun has finally, mercifully come to an end for Michigan State.

The Spartans finish with a 4-8 record following a 42-0 beatdown at the hands of No. 11 Penn State on Friday night at Ford Field in Detroit. After opening the year 2-0 with wins over Central Michigan and Akron, Michigan State's season was derailed by the sexual harassment allegations which cost head coach Mel Tucker his job.

Facing one of the most difficult schedules in the country, the Spartans were no match for their toughest opponents, having been outscored 170-10 combined against No. 4 Washington (41-7), No. 3 Michigan (49-0), No. 2 Ohio State (38-3) and tonight against Penn State. Interim head coach Harlon Barnett was able to lead MSU to wins over Nebraska and Indiana, but the Spartans finish 2-7 in Big Ten play and in sixth place in the final year of the East division.

Three Up

1.) LBs Jordan Hall and Aaron Brule

The Spartans' defense did not play well between the 20s, but it did hold the line early once Penn State reached MSU's 25 yard line-or-closer to the end zone. Michigan State forced the Nittany Lions into three field goal attempts (two made) on Penn State's first three offensive possessions, before surrendering a touchdown on a third-and-goal on the Lions next possession.

A big reason for that was the play of linebackers Aaron Brule and Jordan Hall. On Penn State's first drive, Brule forced a field goal with a third down sack of quarterback Drew Aller. On the Nittany Lions' second made field goal, freshman backer Jordan Hall came up with a sack of Aller to end the drive.

Overall, it was a pretty dreadful night for the Spartans' defense, but those two guys played well. Hall, who could be a team captain as a sophomore next season, finished with a team-high 12 tackles, while Brule added five tackles. Those two guys gave their all in this one.

2.) Katin Houser, Maliq Carr and Montorie Foster

I was a little overly harsh towards quarterback Katin Houser after the win over Indiana for his two interceptions and a few missed throws, but overall the redshirt freshman played very well against the Hoosiers.

That was the case again tonight, as I thought Houser played about as well as could be expected with pass rushers in his face and dragging him to the turf all night long. The numbers won't stand out — Houser completed 11-of-19 pass attempts for 87 yards and an interception — but the freshman made a couple eyebrow-raising throws early in the game before things got out of hand.

Eventually, Penn State's pass rush just took over the game however, and Houser just didn't have many opportunities to make plays. Tight end Maliq Carr and wide receiver Montorie Foster, who have played well down the stretch for MSU, had respectable games tonight. Carr had four catches for 34 yards, while Foster added two catches for 35 yards.

3.) Nathan Carter is still a dude

Michigan State running back Nathan Carter looked to be close to full strength despite leaving last week's game with an injury in the third quarter. The redshirt sophomore only carried the ball eight times, and was swallowed up in the backfield on three of those due to poor blocking. On the other five attempts, Carter produced 39 yards, however, and he showed some of the explosive ability we saw from him early this season.

Assuming Carter remains on this team in 2024, Michigan State's next head coach is going to have a real good tailback to work with next year. Hopefully the new coaching staff can do a better job taking advantage of Carter's ability.

Three Down

1.) Turnover, penalties and Jay Johnson

Michigan State put together a real nice opening drive, but once the Spartans neared the scoring area some of the same problems we've seen all season emerged again. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson tried to go hurry-up on two plays, the first resulting in a false start penalty and the second ending the drive when quarterback Katin Houser threw an interception.

Towards the end of the half, Michigan State had another nice drive going after Houser threw to tight end Maliq Carr for a 29-yard. But, once again, Johnson couldn't help himself. The offensive coordinator dialed up a reverse to wide receiver Alante Brown, who was bottled up quickly and threw a pass to nobody, resulting in an intentional grounding and a 14-yard loss. After another loss on a screen pass to Carr, the Spartans wound up having to punt again. (But not before another special teams penalty from Ross Els' unit...) This was just the latest case of Johnson's play-calling sinking a once-promising drive for MSU. Michigan State finished with six penalties which cost them 30 yards in the game.

2.) Negative-35 rushing yards

Penn State has some of the nation's best pass rushers, and Michigan State's offensive line was no match for the Nittany Lions tonight. Penn State sacked the Spartan quarterbacks seven times, and Houser and walk-on Andrew Schorfhaar were under duress on several other dropbacks as well. The stat sheet says the Nittany Lions had just four QB hurries in addition to the sacks, but it felt like a lot more than that.

Even removing the 51 yards lost due to sacks, Michigan State's rushing effort was abysmal, averaging just 1.6 yards per carry. The Spartans finished with negative-35 rushing yards total, the second worst mark in program history. Adding insult to injury, Michigan State finished the game with just 53 yards of total offense, which is the worst single-game mark in school history. In four years under offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic, we never saw his unit improve. Just a total failure. That goes for Johnson as well.

3.) Too many explosives for Penn State

While Michigan State's defense was tough early when backed up inside its own territory, the Spartans gave up explosive plays all night long to an offense that has struggled to produce those kinds of plays all season.

Penn State fired its offensive coordinator after their loss to Michigan two weeks ago, mostly due to their inability to produce big plays. That was no problem against the Spartans however, as the Nittany Lions tallied 11 explosive plays tonight with five pass completions of over 20 yards and six rushes over 10 yards. Michigan State surrendered 586 yards of total offense (303 passing, 283 rushing). Fortunately for Spartan fans, this is likely the last time they'll have to watch a Scottie Hazelton-coached defense in East Lansing.

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