After a few minutes of football in the face of precipitation, the Spartans were hit in the face by a brisk Penn State team Saturday.

The Nittany Lions ran, threw, blocked, caught, defended and tackled better than MSU over 60 minutes. They were superior in every facet of the game.

They didn’t even need the 12th man edge provided by Beaver Stadium. They might have even been fine playing with 10 men all game.

It was a 49-18 Penn State clinic that showed MSU is good.

Not great.

Nowhere was it more visible that in the center of Saturday’s storm.

In the trenches, where it was more fare than war for the Nittany Lions, Penn State’s offensive line feasted on MSU’s defensive linemen. In turn, they gave quarterback Daryll Clark enough time to pick apart the MSU secondary like a Thanksgiving turkey.

On the opposite side, a swift Penn State front four made blitzes as necessary as Saturday’s fourth quarter. They sacked the quarterback and forced poor passes and caused chaos in the backfield to the point where MSU right tackle Jesse Miller, a main culprit on a sieve-like front five, was without an explanation for Penn State’s success.

At times through this resurgent season, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio has given the MSU offensive line an opportunity to inflict the same pain against opposing defensive lines. Whenever questioned about calls to go for first downs in fourth-and-one situations, Dantonio has offered a similar refrain:

Holding his hands a couple feet apart, he would say, “If you can’t make it that far, then maybe you don’t deserve to win.”

Midway through the third quarter, on third-and-one, down 28-7, on their own 26-yard line, the Spartans needed a new set of downs. They needed a spark, something to inspire offensive confidence, something to turn the tide of dominance up front.

The handoff went to senior running back Javon Ringer and he plunged into the heart of the trench, where bodies piled up and games are won.

He was stuffed by star defensive end Aaron Maybin, who pushed Ringer back one yard.
They couldn’t make it that far. And they didn’t deserve to win.

While Saturday’s beatdown blemishes a 9-3 season (how can it not given MSU has lost all three of its key games), it wasn’t for lack of heart. Take quarterback Brian Hoyer as he took a hit from a freight train in the third quarter.

After lateraling the ball to junior running back A.J. Jimmerson, Hoyer received a cross-field throw and set to throw with a Penn State linebacker bearing down on his sternum.

Hoyer stood in the pocket and delivered a deep ball before being demolished. You had to wonder if whiplash would take him out of this lashing.

The 40-yard pass fluttered in the air before Penn State cornerback Lydell Sargeant intercepted the pass.

At heart, it was a good play. A good call. A good effort.

But it wasn’t great execution.

It was just like everything else with MSU this season. From the quarterback to the offensive line to the defense, everything was good. Not great.

In this down year for the Big Ten, when a preseason conference title contender (Wisconsin) floundered and a once-storied program (Michigan) bottomed out and a promising squad coming off a Rose Bowl appearance (Illinois) struggled, good was enough for a 9-3 season and a likely trip to the Capital One or Outback Bowl.

But to be great, you contend with teams like Penn State. Like Ohio State.

Meltdowns such as the one witnessed on the tundra-esque field of Beaver Stadium aren’t the mark of elite teams.

It’s early in the Mark Dantonio era. A 9-3 season should be celebrated. A likely New Year’s Day bowl appearance is significant.

But more progress still needs to be made.

The test of that progress against the Big Ten’s elite.

To be great, you have to beat the conference’s greatest.