State College, Pa. - Just when Spartan fans thought it couldn't get any worse, Penn State trounced MSU 61-7 Saturday night in Happy Valley.

The 61 points is the most any MSU squad has yielded since a 63-0 loss to Michigan in 1922. And the 54-point margin of defeat is the worst since a 55-0 loss to U-M in 1947.

Saturday marked just the ninth time the Spartans have allowed 55-plus points.

"We didn't answer the bell tonight like we wanted to," said Morris Watts, MSU's interim head coach and offensive coordinator. "It's been a long time since I've seen so many long faces."

That fact was blatantly obvious at the end of the first quarter, when the fifteenth-ranked Nittany Lions (9-3 overall, 5-3 Big Ten) held a 14-0 lead.

In that time, Penn State racked up 131 rushing yards on just 18 carries.

By halftime, the Spartans (4-8, 2-6) trailed 48-0. MSU scored on the opening drive of the second half, but never again.

All told, MSU yielded 422 rushing yards on the night. Most of that came from Penn State senior tailback Larry Johnson.

On just 19 carries, Johnson gained 279 yards and four touchdowns.

His performance made him just the ninth back in NCAA history to clip 2,000-plus yards in a single season as he finished with 2,015 yards.

The Spartans haven't won in State College, Pa., since a 23-0 victory on Sept. 25, 1965. That was the year before Joe Paterno took over as head coach of the Nittany Lions.

But despite the loss, MSU still leads the all-time series 10-9-1.

"When we wake up tomorrow it's going to be tough," sophomore linebacker Ronald Stanley said. "But we're just going to take some time and let it settle, and think about what we can do to bounce back next year."