“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.”