Penn State Vs. Michigan State: Keys to the Game
When Penn State travels to Detroit's Ford Field to meet Michigan State on Friday, its biggest key will be pretty simple — winning. Penn State can secure its fifth season with double-digit victories in the James Franklin era, no small feat despite the disappointing losses to Ohio State and Michigan. New Year’s 6 bowls are on the table, but a Land Grant Trophy win still stands in the way.
Tons of discussion this week still centered on the offense's development in a post-Mike Yurcich world, including the way co-coordinators Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle have called plays and used certain players. There will be more to see this week that may hint at how Franklin plans to conduct his search for a full-time coordinator. Meanwhile, it’s also possible Penn State could see its defensive coordinator coach his last game with the team. Let’s dive into the keys of the Penn State-Michigan game.
RELATED: Penn State vs. Michigan State: How to watch, preview, predictions
Beau’s big break?
Quarterback Drew Allar left the Rutgers game with an injury, and Beau Pribula filled in effectively by leading three scoring drives, though the offense was entirely one-dimensional. While Allar is expected to return against Michigan State, Franklin said he plan to play both quarterbacks.
Pribula played one snap alongside Allar before the injury Saturday, a designed run where he took the snap with Allar split out wide. There’s sure to be more of that from the Pribula package on Friday. But it’s not unreasonable to expect some passing from Pribula, too. Franklin said “there has been more in his package than you’ve seen.” If Allar is still ailing from his injury in the slightest, it might make sense to let Pribula run the show and test his worth in a little more action.
Same place, new faces
Wide receiver has been a conundrum, to say the least. But a popular face from the offseason, who never really emerged through 10 weeks, finally made some noise against Rutgers. Omari Evans caught an important 25-yard pass last week and played his most snaps since the Northwestern game. That came after he burned his redshirt as a freshman last season, scored a touchdown in the Blue-White Game and garnered tons of preseason coaching-staff buzz. His re-involvement in the offense warranted an interesting quote from Franklin this week.
“What we tried to do this past week, which is something we spent a lot of time talking about, is focus on the things that guys can do, rather than the things that they can't do," Franklin told reporters in State College after practice Tuesday, adding that he was “pretty adamant” about the change. "And let's put them in position to allow them to have success, and then build on that, build confidence in other areas."
Maybe Evans’ resurgence continues, or maybe another receiver re-emerges like Malik McClain or Dante Cephas. And maybe Penn State works more around the things Allar and Pribula do well, alongside those talented running backs who haven’t really hit their ceilings this season.
Goodbye, Manny (?), it’s been nice…
Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is going to get calls from other teams almost as soon as Friday’s game is over. There will surely be calls for head-coaching gigs and a few for high-profile defensive coordinator openings. Franklin long has been supportive of assistants getting head-coaching jobs, but the key is making sure Diaz doesn’t leave for a lateral move.
“We’ve got to make sure that assistants don't leave for assistant positions and coordinators don't leave to be coordinators. If guys have a chance for a clear, obvious promotion, we want that for him,” Franklin said. “We’d like to create a situation here for Manny and his family that he wants to be here until he has an opportunity to get a really good head coaching job that's going to allow him to flourish. I think Brent [Pry] handled it probably as well as any. He had a great job, turned down a bunch of jobs waiting for the right one.”
Penn State has had it good with Diaz, who turned the defense into one of the best in the nation. Franklin acknowledged that his teams were strong in years past, but Diaz has taken it to another level. The Lions are top-six nationally in run defense, first-down defense, passing defense, sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers. If this is Diaz’s last rodeo, players and fans alike should enjoy it.
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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network.
