How can Penn State football take down Michigan State on the road? Here are Saturday’s 2 key matchups
Penn State football will try to close out its regular season with a win against the Michigan State Spartans Saturday evening in East Lansing, Michigan. The Nittany Lions are coming off a 28-0 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. They’re 7-4 on the season with a 4-4 conference record while the Spartans are 9-2 with a 6-2 record in the Big Ten.
Let’s take a look at the two key matchups that will determine if the Nittany Lions can defeat the Spartans.
Jon Sauber: Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III vs. Penn State’s run defense
The Penn State run defense has been at the top of its game outside of an outlier performance against Illinois when the Fighting Illini sent seven offensive linemen onto the field and ran for over 300 yards. Even in that game, the defense held Illinois to only 10 points in regulation. The Nittany Lions will face one of their toughest tests of the season this Saturday in East Lansing. Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III has been nothing short of a revelation for the Spartans this season.
He played in two seasons for Wake Forest as a freshman and sophomore where he amassed 1,158 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on 217 carries for the Demon Deacons before transferring to play under Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker this season. With one game left in the regular season, Walker has 1,498 yards and 17 touchdowns on 233 carries, making him a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy this year.
The junior running back had been rolling until he ran into the Ohio State Buckeyes last week. In the three weeks before the game, Walker ran for 476 yards and eight touchdowns against Michigan, Purdue and Maryland. That turned quickly last week when he only had six carries for 25 yards. The reasoning behind that can be attributed to the Buckeyes building a three-score lead in the first quarter and forcing Michigan State to throw the ball.
Penn State is unlikely to be able to do that, given its offense’s ineffectiveness, so it will need to limit Walker for a longer period of time. The Spartans will likely try to run all game on the Nittany Lion defense, especially with the team’s line missing senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher, who is out for the season after suffering an injury against the Iowa Hawkeyes in early October. The unit hasn’t been as effective against the run since, although it has still been good and has improved of late.
The line will have to be at the top of its game against Walker and could be in for a long day if it isn’t. The Michigan State offense has a way of snowballing against opponents. The Spartans run with Walker to establish a lead and wear down their opponent, then they run with him to pull away with explosive plays and they finish it off by running with him to wind down the clock. Walker has been one of the best offensive weapons in the country this year and slowing him down will be paramount for Penn State Saturday.
Kyle J. Andrews: Penn State’s pass offense vs. Michigan State’s pass defense
If there was any time for Penn State to attack the secondary, Saturday is that day. Michigan State is dead last in NCAA Division I in passing defense, having allowed 339.9 yards per game.
The Spartans had major struggles last Saturday against Ohio State. There’s no need to look any further than the 49-0 halftime lead that the Buckeyes put up on Michigan State. Ohio State ended up winning 56-7 and quarterback C.J. Stroud had a career day. He went 32-for-35 on passes for 432 yards and six touchdowns with all six scores coming in the first half, tying a program record.
Wide receivers Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba all had major days at the office, too. Olave led the way with 140 yards and two touchdowns, Wilson had 126 yards and two touchdowns and Smith-Njigba had 105 yards and a touchdown. While Ohio State is the cream of the crop when it comes to passing offenses — the Buckeyes average 362.3 passing yards per game and 3.5 passing touchdowns per game, Penn State could possibly do something similar against Michigan State.
Penn State has the luxury of having a healthy Sean Clifford and a young Christian Veilleux in tow at quarterback if things go wrong. The Nittany Lion pass offense has averaged 270.9 yards through the air this season, with Clifford putting up 363 yards against Maryland for three touchdowns and no interceptions on Nov. 6 and having a career day against Villanova with 401 passing yards, four touchdown passes and one interception on Sept. 25. If Veilleux has to slide in, he just put up 235 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against Rutgers last Saturday.
Penn State has a number of receiving weapons in tow, including leading receiver Jahan Dotson, who has 83 catches for 1,045 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year. Parker Washington follows him with 53 grabs for 662 yards and three touchdowns. Third wideout Keandre Lambert-Smith has 29 receptions for 426 yards and two touchdowns and tight ends Theo Johnson and Brenton Strange have combined for 34 catches for 376 yards and four touchdowns.
In other words, the Spartans will have their work cut out for them and Penn State should attack as often as possible to pull off the win.
