In a Black Friday showdown between Michigan State and No. 11 Penn State at Ford Field, the scoreboard remained black for the Spartans in a 42-0 shutout loss. The defeat dropped MSU to 4-8 on the season and ends a disappointing 2023 season for the Spartans. It also sends the Land Grant Trophy back with the Nittany Lions again after they seized the trophy in 2022 with the series not set to resume again until 2025.
Katin Houser finished the night 11-for-19 passing for 87 yards and one interception. Montorie Foster, Jr. led MSU in receiving yards with 35, while Malik Carr finished the night with four catches for 34 yards.
Nate Carter led the ground attack with 39 yards on eight carries with Jordan Hall leading the defense in tackles with 12, including one sack and four tackles for loss. Angelo Grose finished the night with 10 tackles, including a team high five solo.
Drew Allar finished Friday for Penn State with 292 yards and a touchdown on 17-for-26 passing. The Nittany Lions defense combined for seven sacks led by Abdul Carter with two.
First Half
Michigan State's best accomplishment of the first half was limiting Penn State to just one touchdown. The Nittany Lions finished the half with 308 total yards of offense while the Spartans managed just 100. MSU gave up 179 of those yards in the first quarter with 103 of those yards coming on just two plays.
Despite the enormously lopsided advantage for PSU, the Nittany Lions managed just one field goal in the first quarter, and on their opening drive. A second attempt was no good, and PSU's next drive split between the first and second quarter ended with a second field goal. Penn State managed to finally punch it in on its fourth offensive possession of the game on a 10 play, 64-yard drive that resulted in the final margin of the half at 13-0.
Meanwhile, Michigan State managed to use its opening series to march the ball 46 yards to PSU's 29-yard line. A bad pass intended for Tyrell Henry was picked off by Jaylen Reed and thwarted any attempt to get points on the board for the Spartans.
After two three-and-outs, the Spartans' offense started to come alive. Back-to-back eight-yard gains by Nate Carter started things out before Maliq Carr had a huge 29-yard gain. The drive stalled out from there, and a penalty pushed MSU outside of field goal range forcing the Spartans to punt.
At the half it was 13-0 Penn State.
Things only got worse for MSU in the second half. The Nittany Lions scored touchdowns on four of their six drives of the half. The Spartans, meanwhile, gave up four sacks out of seven total on the night and managed a single first down in the second half.
PSU ended the night with 586 total yards to MSU's '68 after the losses to sacks.
Michigan State heads into the offseason with a head coaching decision awaiting the program. The Spartans will return to the field next August against Florida Atlantic in East Lansing.
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