Penn State football players of the game against Michigan State

On Saturday afternoon the Penn State football team suffered its second consecutive heartbreaking loss to fall to 7-2 on the season.

There are times that I hate being correct. Saturday proved to be one of these instances. Prior to No. 7 Penn State’s showdown with No. 24 Michigan State, I picked the Spartans to pull the upset by a score of 21-17. While the score was 27-24 instead of 21-17, the Spartans did indeed get the upset.

This was the second heartbreaking loss in as many weeks for the Penn State football team as it came via a Spartan field goal as the clock expired. With the loss, the Nittany Lions are now 7-2 on the season and their College Football Playoff hopes have expired.

Similar to last week’s fourth quarter implosion against Ohio State, Penn State gave this game away. Late in the fourth quarter Trace McSorley underthrew a wide open Saeed Blacknall on what would have been a go-ahead touchdown and got intercepted instead. On the ensuing possession, with the game tied at 24, DeAndre Thompkins dropped a pass that would have converted a fourth down deep in Sparty territory. Penn State never possessed the ball again.

It is difficult to look for positives in a game like this, however, there were some. Oh, and I didn’t even mention the three-hour weather delay. Here are Penn State football’s players of the game in their 27-24 loss to Michigan State.

Offense – Wide Receiver DaeSean Hamilton

Penn State’s all-time leading receiver had another huge game on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt senior DaeSean Hamilton caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Hamilton, as did the rest of the wide receivers, also had a strong day at the office in the blocking department.

DaeSean Hamilton was far from perfect on Saturday. He had a drop on an early drive, albeit it was made a moot point when Saeed Blacknall scored on the following play, and he also failed to haul in a Trace McSorley pass on the Nittany Lions’ opening drive that bounced off his hands and became an interception.

Despite these two plays, Hamilton was still Penn State’s best offensive player on Saturday.

Honorable mention: WR DeAndre Thompkins, WR Saeed Blacknall

Defense – Defensive Tackle Tyrell Chavis

Saturday afternoon was another poor day for the Penn State defense, especially the secondary. However, defensive tackle Tyrell Chavis, in limited action, had a strong game in the Nittany Lions’ loss.

The senior defensive tackle finished the game with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, and half a sack. He also had a pair of quarterback hurries. He also single handily derailed a Michigan State second quarter drive where he had a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hurry on back-to-back plays.

Very quietly, Chavis has had a strong senior campaign for the Nittany Lion defense. This continued on Saturday.

Honorable mention: S Troy Apke, CB Tariq Castro-Fields

Special teams – K Tyler Davis

Entering the 2017 season senior kicker Tyler Davis had never missed an extra point in his career and both field goals he had missed were blocked. While he still has not missed an extra point, field goals have been an adventure in 2017.

Entering Saturday’s game Davis was just 5-10 on field goals this season. On Saturday, however, Davis had one of his best games of the season going four-for-four on extra points while also connecting on his lone field goal attempt of the game.

Tyler Davis also had a strong game in the kickoff department. He kicked the ball of five times, recorded a touchback, and helped limit Michigan State to just a 25.0 average on their returns.

Honorable mention: WR Irvin Charles, P Blake Gillikin

Next: Fourth quarter miscues lead to Penn State loss in East Lansing

That will do it for this week. After back-to-back heartbreaking losses the Nittany Lions will be back at it next Saturday at noon when Rutgers comes to Beaver Stadium. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.