Wow, what a stinky, stinky game from the Nittany Lions. How bad must the Spartans feel for losing that game?
Four turnovers in the first half! How many teams can overcome four turnovers in the first half?
Final score: 17-13
The bend but don’t break defense Penn State used had to make Jerry Sandusky smile. MSU would get lots of completions underneath, but they got stuck when it got to be 3rd and short. PSU finally wore them down with some hard hitting.
Many of those hits won’t show up in the stats because they came on incomplete passes or after throws. However, I think they did the most damage.
Play of the game: the non-fumble fumble near the Penn State goal line. Justin King appeared to strip the receiver, forcing the ball to roll out of the end zone for a touchback. It was overruled by instant replay, but it forced MSU to attempt a field goal, which they missed. If MSU had scored, they probably would have won.
Check out the line from MSU QB Brian Hoyer: 30 of 61 passes for 291 yards, 1 TD.
It was nice not needing a poncho for a change.
All the linebackers played well. I am really going to miss Paul Posluszny. Dan Connor better return next year. He, too, had a great game and made some big hits.
Someone in the seats near us had a Dan Connor poster that had a picture like this on it:
Morelli holds on to the ball too long. Throw it away Anthony!
It is still weird not having Joe Paterno on the sideline.
We could see our breath for most of the game.
Since MSU attempted over sixty passes, I would have liked to have seen more sacks and some interceptions.
Aside from the fumbles, Tony Hunt was solid.
We won the game despite winning the PSU vs. MSU blood drive. The winner of the blood drive usually loses the game.
Wiley, Tony, me, Fritz
photo by Ron Hamme
For the first time in a while, we grilled stickies during the postgame tailgate. Sooooo good.
Penn State continued its winning streak with me in attendance. The last time the Nittany Lions lost in my presence was the 2004 Northwetern game. It also continued the winning streak with me wearing my #11 jersey.
This was easily the ugliest PSU vs. MSU game I have ever seen. Penn State now leads the all-time series 12-11-1. Penn State has played no other Big11Ten team as much as the Spartans.
The Outback Bowl seems all but assured for the Lions. How great is it that such a crummy Penn State team can still play on New Year’s Day? Looks like I am going to have to upgrade my cable TV package to get ESPN.
Typical Big11Ten officiating yesterday.
The Lions will probably get killed by whatever SEC team they have to play.
