Turning Point: Did Michigan State think about a time out on fourth-and-one?

State College, Pa. - Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said he didn’t consider calling a time out before the snap during a crucial fourth-and-one conversation by Penn State which resulted in a touchdown and a turning point in the Spartans’ 35-16 loss to the Nittany Lions, Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

“No,” Tucker said when asked if he considered calling a time out. “We just have to set the edge. We ran underneath a couple of blocks. We just didn’t fit it right.”

On that play, Penn State faced fourth-and-two at the Michigan State 11-yard line with 4:31 to play, with the Spartans having cut a 21-3 lead to 21-16.

Michigan State had scored on two straight possessions and had contained Penn State on up to that point in the second half, holding the Nittany Lions to -4 yards rushing on 11 carries in the third quarter.

On second-and-four from the 14-yard line, Michigan State defensive tackle Maverick Hansen stopped Penn State running back Kaytron Allen for a gain of 2.

Then on third-and-two, Michigan State defensive end Dashaun Mallory defeated a block and halted Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton for no gain.

That set up a crucial fourth down play which proved to be the pivotal moment of the game.

First of all, Penn State opted to go for it on fourth down rather than attempt a field goal which could have provided an eight-point lead at 24-16.

Penn State came out with a closed formation, but then hurriedly shifted four players wide to the left, outside the numbers, with Singleton lined up as a wide out.

Michigan State failed to match the numbers created by the shift. Michigan State was out-numbered four-to-three and became easy fodder for a “now” route to Penn State running back Singleton.

Singleton had three blockers in front of him, against three defenders. If those three blockers put a hat on a hat, Singleton would have space for the first down, at least.

As it turned out, one Spartan defender (Aaron Brulé) attracted two blockers, which eliminated the numbers advantage. This left Michigan State safety Xavier Henderson with an alley to tackle Singleton. But Singleton eluded him and sprinted down the sideline for a 12-yard TD strike.

“I kind of thought about a time out, but I was like, shoot let’s just play,” Henderson said. “They did have us outnumbered - three of us, four of them. If I had lined up closer, and Dillon (Tatum) had played the edge a little better, I would have at least been able to get him on the ground.

“We probably didn’t need a different play. We could have just played it better.”

Tatum, making his first career start at cornerback, took on 6-foot-6, 260-pound Penn State tight end Theo Johnson on the play. Johnson served as a lead blocker for the “now” route, which essentially worked as a long handoff and running play.

Tatum took on Johnson straight-up. If Tatum had shaded the blocker from outside-in, Henderson's alley might have been cleaner to Singleton.

Penn State had had trouble getting consistent yardage with the run game between the tackles, and smartly went outside the box, literally and figuratively, to draw up this turning point moment.

On the other side of the formation, Penn State had one receiver to the boundary. Michigan State out-numbered that receiver two-to-one, with linebacker Cal Haladay helping cornerback Ameer Speed over there.

Michigan State had called a six-man blitz.

With six blitzing, and two on the boundary side, that left only three defenders to follow the four-receiver formation to the field.

Michigan State chose to let it play out, and it ended up being the turning point of the game.

Three plays later, Payton Thorne threw an interception on third-and-seven. Then Penn State needed only one play to strike again, with Sean Clifford throwing a 35-yard TD pass to WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who easily beat Ameer Speed on a deep post route.

And suddenly, a 5-point game with less than four minutes to play, was 35-16.