Penn State’s defense clamps down on Michigan State for skid-snapping 28-10 win

Penn State shook off a poor start to defeat Michigan State, 28-10, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., and picked up its first Big Ten win of the season on Saturday.

It took Michigan State (3-7, 0-7 Big Ten) one play to score the game’s first touchdown, a 57-yard sprint by Elijah Tau-Tolliver with 12 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first quarter. But the Nittany Lions answered with two 75-yard drives to enter halftime with a 14-10 lead.

After Tau-Tolliver’s touchdown run, Penn State’s defense allowed just a field goal over the final three-plus quarters. Kaytron Allen iced the contest with a 26-yard touchdown in the game’s closing minutes as the Nittany Lions retained possession of the Land Grant Trophy.

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Penn State (4-6, 1-6), which last won on Sept. 13 against Villanova, snapped a six-game losing streak, the program’s longest drought since 2004.

It also marked the first win for interim head coach Terry Smith, who enjoyed a Gatorade bath before he was hoisted into the air by a cluster of jubilant Penn State players in the game’s closing seconds. Smith was a wide receiver for four seasons in Happy Valley before spending the last 12 as a coach.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” Smith said. “They worked so hard through all this turmoil. They deserved victory prior to this, but they went out and took victory today. I’m just so proud of them and happy for the Penn State community.”

Smith praised his players for sticking together through a season marked by coaching changes and heartbreaking losses. He said a Terry Smith team will always play hard, and, against the Spartans, that grind paid off.

“We kept our focus on playing hard, playing aggressively,” Smith said. “[The message was] to stay together as a team, to play for the Penn State brotherhood. … I’m sitting here soaking wet, like hippopotamus or something, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Nick Singleton’s two-touchdown performance nearly propelled Penn State to an upset victory over No. 2 Indiana last Saturday. Against the Spartans, it was his fellow running back’s physical efforts that headlined a gritty offensive effort.

Allen, a senior, put Penn State on the board with an 8-yard touchdown with 5:50 left in the first quarter. He broke multiple tackles to turn short gains into first downs throughout the game.

With the Nittany Lions up, 21-10, Allen broke a 42-yard run before icing the contest one play later with a 26-yard rushing score. Singleton added 15 carries for 56 yards as the Nittany Lions rushed 50 times for 240 yards, both season highs.

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Penn State’s entire starting offensive line met with the media postgame to discuss a dominant effort on the ground.

“The boys had a day,” left tackle Drew Shelton said. “You get one of us, you get all five of us.”

Allen finished with 25 carries for a career-best 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns. With two games remaining, he sits just 138 yards shy of Evan Royster’s program rushing record, set from 2007-10.

Late in the first half, Dani Dennis-Sutton broke through Michigan State’s blocking contingent before deflecting Ryan Eckley’s punt. It was his third blocked punt of the season and marked the first of several noteworthy plays from the standout defensive end.

With Penn State holding a 14-10 edge and the Spartans’ offense threatening, Dennis-Sutton used a swim move to break through the offensive line before jumping onto Alessio Milivojevic’s back for his first sack of the contest.

On the next play, the senior spun around a Spartans offensive lineman and sacked Milivojevic for an 8-yard loss to force a punt. In two plays, Dennis-Sutton had pushed the Spartans back 15 yards, a momentous swing that set up a key touchdown drive for Penn State.

Dennis-Sutton finished with two sacks, his fourth and fifth of the season..