UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The game-winning touchdown throw with 19 seconds left on the game clock from quarterback Brian Lewerke to wide receiver Felton Davis III has already been set to “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion on Twitter, showing that the most romanticized plays in any win will most often be the offensive ones.
But Michigan State does not upset eighth-ranked Penn State without the A+ effort from their defense, which has been the heartbeat of the team throughout coach Mark Dantonio's tenure in East Lansing.
This Spartan defense allowed just 17 points to a team that averaged 49.6 points going into Saturday – which was tops in the Big Ten and fourth-best in the country. A pass defense that was torched last week by Northwestern to the tune of 373 yards and gave up only 192 through the air to fringe Heisman candidate Trace McSorley.
In fact, the defense held dual-threat McSorley to only 37 yards on the ground, giving him less than 250 yards of total offense, his second-lowest output on the season. Junior linebacker Joe Bachie called a players-only meeting after the loss to Northwestern last week and said he felt the defense played with a fire Saturday that they didn’t a week ago.
“I saw an attitude change. I saw a lot of guys lead, stepping up and believing in each other," Bachie said after the game. "That was the main thing … If you don’t believe we can win, why even come?”
The Spartans had been the best in the nation against the run on the young season but were burned by two long first-half runs by electric Penn State tailback Miles Sanders.
“I think our defense played very well,” coach Mark Dantonio said. “We gave up a couple of big runs. Miles hit us; we were out of our gap (on the 78-yard play), then he made it all on the one run, made five or six guys miss.”
Despite being put in tough field position the whole game by a sputtering offense, MSU's defense only gave up 159 yards after halftime. They prevented McSorley from getting into any semblance of a rhythm, as no Nittany Lion receiver made more than five catches. Penn State only rushed for 39 yards in the second half.
“We was just gonna come out and continue playing good defense,” senior safety Khari Willis said about the second half effort. “Against a team that was putting up (49.6) points per game, three points in the second half is a tremendous job across the board defensively.”
Ultimately, after MSU's fake field goal attempt went awry with 5:19 remaining in the game, any sustained Penn State drive would have iced the game. But the Spartans forced two punts, giving their offense the final chance it needed.
“One of those games, just keep hanging around, and good things are gonna happen,” Dantonio said.
Saying you’re going to keep hanging around against an explosive Penn State offense is one thing.
Actually doing it, is another. And the Spartans have their hard-nosed defense to thank for that.
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