Spartan Football Essentials: Penn State Pushes Back
OFFENSE
It was Payton Thorne's first start at quarterback for the Spartans, and it sure looked that way in his first snaps at Penn State. Not much was expected from the inexperienced Thorne, for good reason, but boy did he deliver quite a bit by the end of the day. Even without the typical Beaver Stadium atmosphere, breaking in on the road against the Wild Dogs upfront for Penn State is never an easy task. Thorne knew he had his hands full before he took his first snap, but it didn't take too long to figure out how to handle his business.
Midway through the 2nd Quarter, Thorne went from settling in to catching fire. With the threat of Jordon Simmons back on the field, Penn State had to adjust to respect the run a bit. Thorne took advantage. His footwork looked good. His pace within the play looked good, meaning he did not look rushed or too sluggish. And his passes were on point. Thorne threw it with zip when needed, he put touch on the ball in spots, and he looked in sync with his receivers as MSU started moving the ball. Remember the difference at the end of the TCU Bowl Game when Connor Cook came in, and suddenly the offense came to life? That's pretty much how it looked during the 2nd Quarter today.
By the end of the 1st Half, Thorne led MSU to a 21-10 lead. After the early interception, Thorne rebounded to go 11 for 13 with three Touchdowns and 202 yards at Halftime. His opening statement at Penn State pretty much stopped there, unfortunately. MSU didn't score another Touchdown on the day, and Thorne only got a good look scoring early in the 3rd and then in the final moments of the 39-24 defeat.
Early in the 3rd, Thorne was hampered by a bad 1st Down play call that had no real hope for success, a blocking lineman that fell down in front of a running Thorne on 2nd Down, and a fine play by a PSU defender to take another Touchdown pass off the board on 3rd Down. The Spartans left, taking the Field Goal to go up 24-18 and would see it all go very badly from there. That was their final look to keep control deeper into the 2nd Half before the bottom fell out on them.
The Spartan Offensive Line was pretty well smoked the rest of the way. PSU got to Thorne, got into the backfield, and maybe most importantly, got into too MSU's head. The Penn State Defense that many expected to see this year did what they could to make up for it in the final 30-minutes today. They reiterated the top priority for Michigan State Football before 2021 kicks off: block much better. But this game did provide some clarity at the Quarterback position for the Spartans.
Hopefully, Payton Thorne gets a chance to start another game next week. If MSU ends up playing in the final week of Big Ten play, Thorne should get the ball again. That would be a huge break for Thorne and this Offense, given their productive outburst in the 2nd Quarter today. And a break for Mel Tucker as he continues to evaluate his starting Quarterback slot. As bad as the 2nd Half and final results were for MSU, there is real optimism in the commanding performance Thorne put on tape in State College today.
DEFENSE
During the best of the Dantonio years, the Spartan Defense had the physical advantage over most opponents. Even the big boys like Penn State. MSU was bigger, stronger, faster, and tougher than most teams they lined up against. A quick check of the record books will confirm. Over the past three years, that gap sharply narrowed and now has thoroughly washed out.
That evolution stood out clearly today as Penn State broke many tackles, ran past several defenders, and pretty clearly dominated the 2020 Spartan Defense from a physical standpoint. That's a tough pill to swallow when you step back, and it leaves a bright line for Mel Tucker as he looks to rebuild this unit to a dominant level. This unit should get tougher, stronger, and smarter from this experience, but that may also come in the form of some new faces on the field in 2021.
It won't be easy, it won't be "back to normal" next fall, but the hard work is well underway. This unit should be back to a competitive level sooner than the offense. They have less ground to make up than the chronically struggling offense, they've been better for a long time upfront than MSU lineman on the other side of the ball, but they do clearly have some real work to do. Today they were blocked too often, did not affect the quarterback much, and missed too many tackles from the early minutes of the game through the bitter ending.
Anyone that knows Defense will tell you that a great Defense begins with stopping the run. Even in today's modern game where the ball moves through the air so often? Yes. Mel Tucker knows that, firsthand. He's about as fine a defensive mind as there is in College Football today, so trust that he's got that one covered in time. That may pay dividends for the Spartan Defense as soon as 2021. Spartan Nation should not expect a top-end unit next season, but they should expect to see clear and consistent progress. This is a unit that will be molded to execute the fundamentals with an attention to detail at a higher level than they did in Tucker's year one. That can show up in the Spartans win-loss record by the next time they play Penn State.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The day's deciding play was the 81-yard punt return for a Touchdown at the 11:24 mark of the 4th Quarter. After another 3-and-out for the MSU Offense, Penn State's Jahan Dotson didn't look like he had much of a look at a significant punt return. He was nearly tackled at the spot of the catch, but that was just the beginning. After making three would-be tacklers miss, Dotson's natural ability took full flight to the end zone. The 81-yard return and PAT made it 39-24, Lions. It completed a 26-point swing from the 21-10 lead MSU built before the Half. It was the final dagger in a 2nd Half of nightmares for Mel Tucker and MSU.
Had the Spartan Defense held that drive, MSU would've been down 32-24 and still very much in the game. But a return like that not only adds another score, it takes the air out of the team that gave it up in a few seconds. It smashes the morale of a team that goes from maybe just one play away to a very long rest of the day. It was the worst time to give up a big play, but a stark reminder of why this unit matters and why we talk about Special Teams every week in this space.
INTANGIBLES
What looked so good for Michigan State at Halftime went totally sour before the final buzzer. The clear roster advantages Penn State carried into this game took a while to show up but ultimately carried the day. Credit the Spartans and Payton Thorne for catching fire in the 2nd Quarter and taking the impressive 21-10 lead into the break. But you also have to credit James Franklin and Penn State for completely flipping the script in the 2nd Half. They pushed back at MSU at the start of the 3rd Quarter, and then well beyond the Spartans by the end of their comfortable feeling win. 26-points is quite the in-game swing, and nothing Mel Tucker wants any part of in his future days at MSU. This one had to leave a mark on Tucker and this 2020 team.
Penn State ran for about twice as many yards at the Spartans on the day, beat MSU 29-3 in the 2nd Half, and laid down the truth about the two Land Grant programs at this point. This was a reminder of what teams have to do in order to finish this type of game, and avoid such a painful and evaporating loss at the hands of a better opponent. As the Spartans get better upfront, this type of come from ahead loss will rarely happen. As MSU restocks its roster, they will find the players needed to withstand the kind of push back Penn State hit them with today. Mel Tucker and staff can rebuild the foundation to close any cracks you see develop in a game like this before they become holes and a game completely breaks open.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel. MSU has a few skill players on offense that can score more points than we've seen in recent years if they get the blocking they need upfront. That is so clearly the top priority for Mel Tucker between now and the start of the 2021 season. The more progress Spartan Football makes at the point of attack between now and next fall, the sooner Michigan State Football wins a game like we saw today and plays for big things deep into a season again.
EXTRA POINT
2020 has been the wildest year in Big Ten history, but it has yet to correct the imbalance between the East and West divisions. From day one of this two-division makeup, Purdue belonged in the East, and Michigan State belonged in the West. It made enough geographic sense, but more importantly, the most completive sense for Big Ten Football. It still makes the most sense today.
In some ways, it may not make the most sense individually for either Purdue or Michigan State, but that's not the Big Ten's main concern. They need to do what's best overall for all 14-Big Ten schools and two divisions. The day after this 2020 football season ends, Big Ten leadership should draw a line on their map between Champaign and West Lafayette and continue that line north-east, splitting between East Lansing and Ann Arbor. That's how they should divide the west and east.
The result would not only mean flipping divisions, it would mean changing MSU's annual crossover game to Michigan, and the secondary "rivalry" games with Indiana and Penn State would also kick on less than an annual basis. It may mean less football trips to Columbus and Happy Valley, but it should not mean any less of a shot at playing for another B1G Championship. Beyond that, it's better for Big Ten Football, which is truly hampered by such an imbalance between the two divisions. What could make more sense in the year 2020 than the Big Ten finally taking the step to get their divisions set up right?
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