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It was a tale of two halves for the Spartans today. Michigan State had the lead for the early portions of the game, but could not hold on to it as the Nittany Lions came back to win 39-24. The Spartans looked like a good team in first half and a horrific team in the second half. Payton Thorne got the start at quarterback today, after Rocky Lombardi’s injury last week.
Thorne struggled in his first drive as the starter as he threw an interception. He was given another chance as they fumbled the interception on the return and got the ball back. He didn’t do much with it as they went three-and-out.
Penn State marched down the field on their first drive and seemed to have a rushing touchdown, but was called back after a holding call. The Nittany Lions stalled out and had to settle for a field goal.
Both teams exchanged punts which led into the second quarter. The Spartans began their fourth drive of the game with two rushes by true freshman Jordan Simmons. Thorne capped off the drive with a 45-yard play-action touchdown pass to Jalen Nailor for 45 yards.
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Penn State answered right back with a 31-yard rushing touchdown from Sean Clifford. That wouldn’t faze Thorne though, as the Spartans had a nice drive that ended with a 26-yard passing touchdown to Tre’Von Morgan.
The Spartans defense held strong and got the ball back with a little over three minutes left in the half. Thorne picked his way through the defense and was able to find Jalen Nailor again for a 7-yard touchdown. The Spartans would head into the half with a 21-10 lead.
Penn State got the ball to begin the second half and had their way with the defense that resulted in a Parker Washington 8-yard touchdown from Clifford. Penn State went for two and got it on a pass to Jahan Dotson.
The Spartans were able to get the ball downfield, but could not punch it in from the red zone and settled for a field goal from Matt Coghlin to make it 24-18.
The Nittany Lions stormed down the field and capitalized with a Will Levis 1-yard rushing touchdown and took the lead 25-24.
The Spartans went three-and-out and the Nittany Lions immediately made them pay for it as they scored again on a 49-yard touchdown to Washington to make it 32-24.
The Spartans continued the offensive woes and punted the ball right back to Penn State which was returned 81-yards by Jahan Dotson to make the score 39-24.
Fast forward to about two minutes left in the game, the Spartans make a fourth-down stop to get the ball back. Thorne leads an emphatic and trying drive to the red zone. Unfortunately, it ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down to effectively end the game.
Thorne finished the game with 22/39 passing for 325 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also threw an interception.
Jordan Simmons led the way in the backfield with 14 carries for 72 yards.
Jalen Nailor had the bulk of the receptions for the Spartans and finished with six receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
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