Penn State hammers Spartans 42-14 in final regular season game
Senior Day ends on sour note
By Chris Vannini (Last updated: 11/22/09 11:07pm)It was the most unfitting of ends for the MSU football team’s regular season.
In a roller coaster year that saw plenty of ups, downs and broken hearts, the Spartans were run out of Spartan Stadium and lost the season finale 42-14 to Penn State on Saturday night.
“Obviously, very, very disappointing loss,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “I thought we were hanging in there in the first half. I thought we were over that hump a little bit, but we’re not.”
A third quarter meltdown saw Penn State (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten) score on 3-, 3-, 1- and 5-play touchdown drives that sent Spartans fans heading for the exits midway through the quarter.
The MSU defense continued to give up big plays — as it has been prone to do all season.
“We didn’t play good enough in the second half to get it done,” defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said. “We had a chance and just didn’t make plays when we needed to. I feel bad for our seniors; they played their tails off.”
The Nittany Lions outgained the Spartans 144-21 in total yards in the third quarter.
“I’m not really frustrated,” senior safety Danny Fortener said. “I’m just disappointed to have it end like that.”
The MSU defense came into the game allowing less than 16 points per game at home, but the snowball third quarter put the Spartans in a hole they couldn’t come close to climbing out of.
Sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins didn’t play poorly, per se — going 16-for-28 for 155 yards and a touchdown — but he threw two critical interceptions in the third quarter, which gave the Nittany Lions short fields to work with.
“I made poor decisions on both of (the interceptions),” Cousins said. “I can’t do it, it cost the football team and when you get in catch-up mode… I just tried to do too much, I wanted to get back so fast that I was trying to make plays where there weren’t plays to be made.”
On the other end, Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark made a case to be named first-team All-Big Ten. Clark shredded the Spartans secondary for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
With the loss, the Spartans fall to 6-6 overall, 4-4 in the Big Ten, but will still head to a bowl game and gain valuable experience in December practices.
For the Spartans seniors, it was not the way they wanted to leave Spartan Stadium.
“It’s a big disappointment right now,” senior center Joel Nitchman said. “You never want to lose to your rival like that but at the same time, we’re going to take as many positives out of this game as we can by breaking down film. We’ve got to get ready for a bowl game. We’re very fortunate in that aspect that we have one more left.”
The 19 seniors on the team were honored prior to the game with their families on the field.
The Nittany Lions were the first team to put together a drive in the first quarter — going 70 yards — but the Spartan defense held, forcing a 38-yard yard field goal attempt which Penn State kicker Collin Wagner pushed wide right.
After an MSU three-and-out and a short punt, Clark completed a 13-yard pass on the first play of the ensuing drive and the Nittany Lions were on the board four plays later after a Clark touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless.
With just more than two minutes remaining, Cousins stepped up in a two-minute drive situation, as he often has this season.
Cousins completed three straight passes for 32 yards before an incompletion. Then, junior wide receiver Mark Dell made back-to-back spectacular catches for 20 and 24 yards, respectively, to reach the red zone.
Cousins found junior tight end Charlie Gantt, who made a diving catch in the endzone to tie the game at seven.
But with 39 seconds remaining, Penn State wasn’t finished. Clark completed consecutive passes for a combined 38 yards and the Nittany Lions got into MSU territory.
But Penn State wide receiver Graham Zug dropped a pass and Clark was sacked by junior linebacker Greg Jones on the next play. Penn State attempted a 51-yard field goal that went wide left and the teams went into halftime tied at seven.
But the second half just wasn’t the same for the Spartans, who missed tackles and blew coverages all over the field.
“We made adjustments and, obviously, Penn State made some better adjustments and we just really gotta to make plays out there, wrap up and go for the ball,” Fortener said.
The Spartans will have a month to prepare for a bowl game, the location of which they will learn Dec. 6, and the seniors are thankful they have one more game remaining with their friends.
“A lot of guys were sad but we’ve still got another game,” Fortener said. “We get to practice together and still have fun together.”
Originally Published: 11/21/09 6:45pm
11/21/09 7:03pmTitle goes wrong…
student
11/21/09 8:05pmHey,
We’re going bowling!!!
Tim
11/21/09 9:09pmWell…….
MD promised more scoring after the half and he was right! He just didn’t let on that it would be all PSU.
Too bad that this regular season ends this way. But, really, what would one expect. MD spends way too much time abdicating his responsibilities to his assitants, letting Treadwell and Narduzzi run a-muck. And muck it up they did.
6-6.
Another,” we’ll get ‘em next year” season.
For many out there MD is your hero.
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camarogolfguy
11/21/09 11:51pmJoPa was being polite by keeping MSU in the game the first half. The second half was shameful. A sad day for all Spartans.
SoCal Spartan
11/22/09 2:08amIt really hurt to see us lose, but I do believe that we’re in a restructuring year.
Tim I understand your perspective to a limited degree. But we’ve had a consistent bowl qualifying record and I take that as more then a grain of salt. It took Izzo some time development the team.
Plus the transition to Izzo was an inside job, so he was on easier grounds. MD walked into a chaos and has built it strongly.
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Smith
11/22/09 4:23amThose of you who bash this staff and players are not true spartans or walmart wolverines trolling the school website.
Overall, Dantonio is heading in the right Direction, you can’t just go to a BCS game after 20 years of coaches like John L. and Williams. He’s building this team, and the seniors have made me very proud this year. GO GREEN. ENJOY BOWLING for the 3rd year in a row!
Tim
11/22/09 8:59am6-6 says it all.
Not top flight.
Not elite
Not even good
MEDIOCRE.
Can you say, “contract extension?”
The criticism is for the coaches, not the players. The talent is there in the kids if they are used properly. Not possible with MD and his staff. There will be no reason for changing anything as long as you’re all satisfied in the mediocrity. As long as you’re thrilled with 6-6, we’ll get more of it.
Watch…pay attention…learn. Next year will be no better for a coach that isn’t willing to walk the walk and fans not willing to demand anything more.
Same-‘ol, same-‘ol.
We’ll get ‘em next year blah blah.
Keep drinking that koolaid.
Tony
11/22/09 9:36amTim’s right, you know. We’re a mediocre program. That’s not being a bandwagon fan, that’s just fact. And if I were paying mediocre MAC prices for my tickets, I could live with it. However, I’m paying BCS Big Time prices for a program that is sorry. We can’t even win the games we’re supposed to.
So take your ‘bandwagon fan’ crap back over to the student section where the tickets are cheap. Over at the 50, I’m paying $1000 in Spartan Fund, plus the ticket price, and I’m getting jacked. I’ll gladly be blindly following fan for free. But if you charge me big time prices, I want big time performance.
You Got Scammed
11/22/09 10:46amThe reason they can charge those prices for a mediocre football team is because your typical football fan is not intelligent. Quod erat demonstrandum.
Tony
11/22/09 10:50amWhen you go around insulting people, ‘the facts speak for themselves’, that you’ve probably never seen a girl naked. Unless you are one, then switch the genders.
Hey, I can make ad hominem’s too. And I too know trite Latin phrases! Yay me!
fan
11/22/09 11:26amhey, it took izzo a few years to get going too.
and going 6-6 with a few more wins just out of grasp isn’t too bad.
The offense was #1 in the big ten at the start of last night.
The defense needs to be better. and defense has been what md has done in the past. and we saw instances of solid defense this year.
Tim
11/22/09 11:41amThanks, Tony. Not often on this blog is there agreement. I’ve been a fan AND $ supporter of this program for years. We are paying for what is not being delivered, and as long as we all go along with it and rejoice at 6-6 seasons we’ll never get better. MD is a good assistant that got a shot at the big time. So was Bobby Williams; neither have the stuff necessary to make it.
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@Tim
11/22/09 1:15pmNo coach (even if he bring his entire staff from another team) can take a team and spin them 180* in 3 years. The Spartans were 2-11 in Nov before MD came. now 6-3. SoS are gone, we are building, have an outstanding QB and running core, and most of our receivers are staying, our offense is good, we just need to tighten up the defense for next year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spartans fighting for a Big Ten title.
GO PENN STATE
11/22/09 2:10pmGO STATE! Penn State that is !!! The REAL STATE!
Spartygold
11/22/09 2:55pmThe special teams are bad..Those punts and kick coverage have been bad all year..Fix it..Defense is bad fundamentally..cannot seem to contain or stay home..That was a disgusting display..Good teams do not QUIT..
11/22/09 7:51pmI think that The Ohio State University qualifies as the REAL STATE. I only say that because they’re Big Ten champs and beat you at home, much like the Lions did to us.
student
11/22/09 9:11pmEven when we lost, MSU and Mark Dantonio got the commitment on Saturday from OL Skyler Schofner, one of the top ranked players at his position in the nation. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound offensive tackle recently listed Michigan State, Kentucky, Wisconsin, South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio State as his finalists. The lineman has dozens of other scholarship offers, and is rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com.
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Walt 1984
11/23/09 11:47amSteady as she goes. Next year will be better. I am putting that out there. This year was way better than those between Saban and Dantonio. Maybe we’ll have agood team before I croak!
SteveL
11/23/09 10:09pmWait until next year. Where have I heard that before? I see no progress this year in play. Defense is bad, special teams other than Swenson are below average. Offensive is mediocre, especially in creating a run offense. So what is the deal? I see no progress but a giant step back. I sure won’t be believing any hype next year until I see improvements on the field. And that will transform into not puttting out hard earned money for tickets from what I have had to endure on the field this year. Over and out.