Penn State Football: Week 7 Studs and Duds against Michigan State

Penn State came out flat against a fired up Michigan State squad. The result, another heartbreaking loss that all but eliminated the Nittany Lions from Big Ten and national title considerations. Who made our list of Studs and Duds for the game?

Last Saturday was not Penn State’s finest hour.  A rash of penalties, turnovers, and bad play in all three phases of the game were enough to doom the Nittany Lions against Michigan State.  The Spartans got some late game heroics from quarterback Brian Lewerke and wide receiver Felton Davis III to down the Lions 21-17.  The loss for Penn State all but assured that they will not win the Big Ten title this season nor will they contend for the national title.  Two goals at the outset of the season that seemed like they could be attainable due to a number of key returners on both sides of the ball as well as a favorable home schedule.

The defense has not progressed as quickly as many had hoped, and the special teams, especially the placekicking, has been shaky, at best.  On Saturday, the defense once again allowed another fourth quarter comeback, while the offense did not seem to be in sync.  All this comes on the heels of a bye week where head coach James Franklin even made a note to mention that last Tuesday’s practice was one of the best practices he’s seen since he arrived at Penn State.

As most will tell you, though, you can have a national championship-caliber practice, but that doesn’t get you any points come Saturday afternoon.  Penn State found that out the hard way.  Now the Nittany Lions must pick up the pieces and move on to the next opponent.  As the team found out last year, losing a tough game has a tendency to linger into the following weekend if you aren’t careful.

Jimmy Buffett, one of my favorite musical artists, penned in his hit Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, “Yesterday’s over my shoulder, so I can’t look backwards too long.  There’s just too much see waiting in front of me and I know that I just can’t go wrong.”  The loss to Michigan State will certainly sting, but there is another game coming up this week against an opponent that would love to say they were able to knock off Penn State.

The Indiana Hoosiers seem to always play top-tier opponents tough, especially at home.  So, Penn State better be ready to get the best the Hoosiers have to offer.

However, before we look ahead to the this week’s game against Indiana, let’s take one final look back at the Studs and Duds for Penn State against Michigan State.