Penn State wasn’t about to have any Thanksgiving hangover in its regular-season finale on Friday night. [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]’s big night through the air and an aggressive defense was far more than Michigan State could handle in a 42-0 victory by the Nittany Lions in Ford Field in Detroit.
Allar was 17-of-26 for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception. That included a pair of passes that traveled over 40 yards with running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] taking a pass for 53 yards and [autotag]Omari Evans[/autotag] getting his hands on a deep ball for a 60-yard gain to set up a touchdown.
Singleton ended the night with 118 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, and 68 receiving yards. [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] carried the football 15 times for 137 yards. It was the first game all season where any Penn State player rushed for 100 yards.
Penn State was a bit slow out of the gates with a field goal by [autotag]Alex Felkins[/autotag] in the first quarter and an early miss from Felkins on a later drive. Penn State led by a score of 13-0 at halftime before putting the game away in the second half.
Penn State’s defense recorded 6 sacks and 11 TFL on a night with constant pressure in the backfield. [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag], [autotag]Adisa Isaac[/autotag] (7 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 TFL), and Abdul Carter (2 sacks, 2 TFL)all had some big plays as they never allowed Spartans quarterback Katin Houser to feel comfortable. Houser passed for just 87 yards with 1 interception.
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Penn State’s victory is the first shutout in series history against the Spartans. It is the fourth shutout in the all-time series with Penn State being shutout in 1945, 1949, and 1965.
This is Penn State’s second-straight season with at least 10 wins. Penn State went 10-2 in the regular season last year and ended the year with a victory in the Rose Bowl for an 11-2 record. Penn State will get a chance to get to 11 wins with their upcoming bowl game this bowl season. This is also the fifth season with at least 10 wins under James Franklin.
Penn State’s regular season is now in the books and the waiting game begins to learn which bowl game will be the next destination for the Nittany Lions. At 10-2, Penn State sits in a favorable spot for a potential at-large spot in a New Years Six bowl game, although a lot could happen in the final week of the regular season and in next week’s conference championship games to impact the final bowl projections.
Michigan State will now focus on turning the page as a program with a new head coach being hired. There are reports the Spartans could name a new head coach in the coming days as the coaching carousel is about to spin wildly out of control.
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