The Best Story from Penn State's Win Over Michigan State

Senior Shane Simmons made a memorable first career start in Penn State's 39-24 win over Michigan State.

Thoughts here and there from Penn State's 39-24 victory over Michigan State on a sunny, quiet afternoon at Beaver Stadium.

-The best story of the day belonged to Shane Simmons, who made the most important defensive play of the game. Simmons, a fifth-year senior making his first career start, broke up a third-and-goal pass in the third quarter that forced Michigan State to kick a field goal for a 24-18 lead. Energized, the Lions scored three unanswered touchdowns for the win.

"I think the game could have been different if they score [a touchdown] right there," coach James Franklin said.

Simmons, who also contributed 1.5 sacks, has had a winding career at Penn State. Franklin initially recruited him at Vanderbilt (Simmons' family actually visited Franklin there) and then brought him to State College. Injuries blunted Simmons' development, and he has been mostly a rotational player during his career.

But with starter Jayson Oweh out with an undisclosed injury, Simmons took advantage of his late opportunity. And his Senior Day song, Frank Sinatra's "My Way," was exceptionally fitting.

"Everything that I have been through since being here and battling through adversity with my foot [injury], with school, just everything I've been through at Penn State made me who I am today," Simmons said. "I just really wanted to go out there and play for my boys and play for all of the seniors out there."

-Sure, Penn State beat three teams (Michigan, Rutgers, Michigan State) with their own issues, but steering this season back on course after starting 0-5 has to count for something. The Lions' small senior class, which lingered for a victory lap around an empty Beaver Stadium field, deserves some credit for that.

"We just told everybody you have to keep investing," defensive end Shaka Toney said. "Anything in life, when you come up short, the first thing some people do is turn and run. But you've got to figure out another way to invest and keep getting better. That's all we did. It has been a tough season. This hasn't been our standard; it hasn't been anybody's standard among Penn Staters that bleed this blue. It's not what we expected, but I think people should be proud of the way this team finished. That's all we keep preaching: Keep fighting and keep investing."

-Why is that important? Because this game was headed down the same path as the first five. Penn State trailed 21-10 at halftime after an abysmal defensive second quarter in which Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne went 10-for-10 with three touchdowns. The Spartans even laughed at Penn State with a flea-flicker that set up a score.

But Penn State's defense brought more pressure in the second half, took away Thorne's throwing lanes (he went 11-for-26) and forced five punts. And the red-zone stand changed the game's tenor.

-If Jahan Dotson decides to return next season, Penn State will have an interesting receiver combination with him and Parker Washington. The two are becoming a dynamic set, which they proved Saturday.

Dotson returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown, Penn State's longest punt return since 2002, caught eight passes for 108 yards and also turned defender to prevent a third-quarter interception. Washington caught two touchdown passes, one on a 49-yard play in which he sidestepped two Michigan State defenders. Quarterback Sean Clifford gets credit for selling the receiver screen on that play, leaving Washington open downfield.

Safety Lamont Wade said he was among the first player to notice Washington's potential last summer and had praise for both receivers.

"I want this noted," Wade said. "In the summer, when Parker came in, I looked at him, looked at his calf muscles and I said, 'That boy is nice.' And the older DBs said, 'Ah, we're in shorts right now, blah, blah, blah.' But I'm like, 'I'm trying to tell you, this kid is nice. I see the calf muscles. No slot receiver has calf muscles like that.'

"But Parker is tremendous. He has come a long way. He is doing exactly his job and getting it done. Jahan, he is always impressive. I've been trying to get him to use that dead leg more, and he used that dead leg on the punt return. It was beautiful. But those guys are special players and they mean a lot to this program right now."

-Penn State finally allowed quarterback Will Levis to throw out of his package, and he did a pretty nice job. Levis fired a rope to Dotson for 36 yards and finished 3-for-3. In one of the team's more curious statistics, Levis had run 27 consecutive times across three games be fore throwing that pass.

Levis' package essentially is a short-yardage set, which often includes a sixth lineman and two linebackers. Levis is the de-facto fullback for which many fans have pined the past nine years, though he can throw a little bit. But is this a sustainable way to nurture a quarterback?

"We’ve been saying for a while that we have two quarterbacks that we want to use," Franklin said. "I’m glad that we threw Will [Saturday]. I think we can do more of that. Obviously we want to be more balanced with how we’re using Will and we continue to talk about that, so I glad to see that happen."

Noteworthy

Clifford moved into 11th on Penn State's career-passing list (4,447 yards).

Dotson has the team's longest receiving streak (28 consecutive games).

Penn State did not allow a sack for the first time this season. It had allowed 20 through the first five games.

Penn State made 10 tackles for loss for the 24th time under Franklin.

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