Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Michigan State Spartans

Article Posted at: November 20, 2009 - 12:24 pm

The season did not go the way the Penn State Nittany Lions thought it would, but with a victory over Michigan State in the regular season finale, they just may find themselves invited to play in a BCS bowl game nonetheless.

Penn State (9-2, 5-2) also has a shot of grabbing a portion of the Big Ten title, but that would require not only them beating Michigan State in East Lansing, but also seeing Ohio State upset at the hands of a fading Michigan team.

The Lions bounced back from their second loss of the season, and arguably their most disappointing. They were blown out by Ohio State 24-7 on November 7 in a game that was never even close. Penn State figured their schedule matched up pretty well this season with the tough Big Ten games, Iowa and Ohio State, at home, but they lost both of them.

Darryl Clark threw for 194 yards and a touchdown, but it was a defensive play, Navorro Bowman’s pick six that gave the Nittany Lions the momentum they needed to win the game. Clark had thrown for four interceptions in the two losses and hopes a meeting with the Michigan State Spartans (6-5, 4-3) will bring out the best in him like it did last season.

The then junior passed for 341 yards with four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown as Penn State routed Michigan State in Happy Valley last season.

The only quarterback with a better passer rating in the Big Ten resides in East Lansing. Kirk Cousins has quietly put together a solid season with a 139.7 passing rating. He led the Spartans back from 10 points down late last week in Purdue to claim a 40-37 win. Cousins threw for three touchdowns and made his team bowl eligible for the third straight season.

The Spartans have had little success in the all-time series, but they have won more than half of the games played in East Lansing, they have just been unable to win at Beaver Stadium. Michigan State has taken four of the past six games at home against Penn State, and the last game there, 35-31, in 2007 but have dropped four of the last five overall.