Michigan State football ground down by Penn State in battle of Big Ten cellar-dwellers
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EAST LANSING — Michigan State football and Penn State put on an old-school, throwback Big Ten slobberknocker.
The Nittany Lions landed the last blow. And it TKO’ed the Spartans’ faint hopes for a bowl berth.
Penn State put together a 13-play, 76-yard drive in the fourth quarter of a close contest that gnawed more than 9 minutes off the clock. It featured 12 straight runs, capped by a 4-yard touchdown “pass” – a flip from quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer to Devonte Ross – that sealed MSU’s 28-10 loss on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The Nittany Lions dialed up the pressure on quarterback Alessio Milivojevic in his second career start, sacking him five times. They drilled him twice after their touchdown for roughing the passer penalties, then got to him for a strip-sack on the next play to thwart any chance of an comeback for the Spartans.
MSU (3-7, 0-7 Big Ten) has lost seven straight, equaling its losing streak under Mark Dantonio during the 2016 season, when the Spartans finished 3-9.
The loss ended a six-game losing streak for PSU (4-6, 1-6), which had fired James Franklin on Oct. 12; interim coach Terry Smith lost his first three games since taking over.
Milivojevic finished 17-for-27 for 128 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. Elijah Tau-Tolliver had 79 rushing yards and 73 receivering yards as the Spartans finished with just 229 total yards to PSU’s 367.
Big start for Elijah Tau-Tolliver
MSU couldn’t have started the game much better than it did.
Joe Rossi’s defense smothered the Nittany Lions with a three-and-out off the opening kickoff, swarming running back Kaytron Allen and then pressuring quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer after a low snap and dropping him for a loss. The ensuing punt set the Spartans up near midfield.
One play, one score: Elijah Tau-Tolliver, carrying his momentum from a banner performance at Minnesota, got the start on senior day and took the first handoff off the right side. Unlike his 85-yarder against the Gophers, this time the Sacramento State transfer didn’t run out of gas; he finished a 57-yard touchdown that put MSU up, 7-0, just 1:14 into the game.
But Grunkemeyer, who took over for injured Drew Allar a month ago, calmed the Nittany Lions. Their ball-control offense methodically picked apart the Spartans for a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 6:52 on the ensuing possession. It featured a quick-throw fourth-and-2 conversion from the redshirt freshman QB to Trebor Pena for 7 yards, followed by a 25-yard throw behind MSU’s secondary on the next play. Allen shuffled his way to an 8-yard tying touchdown two plays later.
Pressure points
But perhaps the biggest disparity between the two teams with identical records and long losing streaks showed on their front sevens.
Penn State made Milivojevic’s first half challenging by sending blitzers from multiple angles against the Spartans’ young offensive line. The Nittany Lions sacked MSU’s redshirt freshman once, were credited with three other hits and hurried him from the pocket on multiple occasions. Milivojevic got dropped trying to escape on third-and-goal at the PSU 5 in the second quarter, and the Spartans settled for a field goal to make it 10-7.
That lead lasted one play. Grunkemeyer had all day with strong protection against an MSU defensive group that has failed to generate much quarterback pressure all season, and he delivered a 75-yard strike to Devonte Ross over a miscommunication in the secondary. The Nittany Lions – whose No. 2 and No. 3 QBs were out, with no other scholarship options, with the backup behind Grunkemeyer being wide receiver Liam Clifford – carried a 14-10 lead into half.
Still, Rossi’s defense did its duty. PSU had just eight first downs in the opening half and 181 yards, while MSU had four first downs and 149 total yards.
A scoreless third quarter featured plenty of punting thanks to strong defense on both sides. Both Milivojevic and Grunkemeyer each got sacked once.
Punishing finish
The fourth quarter started much like the third quarter ended, after a Milivojevic sack and an illegal snap penalty.
PSU’s Dani Dennis-Sutton dropped Milivojevic, and the Spartans had to punt. That’s when Grunkemeyer, Allen and the Nittany Lions’ run game took command, with the young quarterback escaping for three critical runs despite strong coverage by the MSU secondary.
Milivojevic and the Spartans continued to show resiliency after that, though. He took late hits from PSU’s Duriah Fisher and Dennis-Sutton, picking up 30 penalty yards to get MSU down to the Nittany Lions’ 20. But on the next play, cornerbacks Zion Tracy and Daryus Dixson converged and strip-sacked Milivojevic, and the Spartans turned over their last chance. Allen added a 26-yard TD run to seal it for PSU.
MSU quarterbacks have been sacked 35 times on the season, 14 for Milivojevic and 12 of those in the past two games. Junior Aidan Chiles, who sat out Saturday with an apparent left foot injury, has been sacked 21 times on the year.
Penn State dominated the time of possession with a 37:19-22:41 advantage, including 18:56-11:04 in the second half.
MSU's 108-year-old program record for consecutive losses is 10 games, between the end of 1916 and an 0-9 record in 1917. Thanks to forfeiting 11 games in the 1994 season for NCAA violations that happened under George Perles, wiping out a 5-6 season, the record book officially credits MSU with 15 straight losses: the final three games of 1993, all of 1994, and the first game of 1995 under Nick Saban.
The Spartans earlier this week were forced to vacate 14 wins over the 2022, 2023 and 2024 due to NCAA violations.
Not counting vacated games, the Spartans will finish with a losing record for the fifth time in the past six seasons since Mark Dantonio retired after 2019. Teams typically need to win six regular-season games for bowl eligibility, something that is now impossible for second-year MSU coach Jonathan Smith, whose first season ended with a 5-7 record before it was vacated this week due to ineligible players from the previous staff.
Next up for Michigan State football
The Spartans (3-7, 0-7 Big Ten) have two more chances to avoid going winless in Big Ten play for the first time since 1958 (when they lost five and tied one under Hall of Famer Duffy Daugherty): They visit Iowa next Saturday (time, TV to be announced Monday) and finish the season with a home game against Maryland at Ford Field in Detroit on Nov. 29.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football drops 7th straight, 28-10, to Penn State
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