No. 7 Penn State Looking to Rebound from Tough Loss at Ohio State Saturday at Michigan St.


LANSING, Mich. – Both Penn State and Michigan State will be looking to bounce back from their first Big Ten losses this season, as they will meet at noon Saturday in Spartan Stadium in an East Division matchup televised on FOX.

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Penn State Game Notes /  Penn State Website Game Preview

The Nittany Lions (7-1), ranked No. 7 and Spartans (6-2), ranked No. 24, will be competing for the Land Grant Trophy, a series in which Penn State holds a 14-7 advantage. Penn State is looking to retain the trophy after clinching both it and the Big Ten East Division Championship in last year’s meeting.

Penn State and Michigan State are now tied for second in the division with 4-1 records. Both were a part of a three-way tie for first, but Penn State lost a heartbreaking one-point game at now-division leading Ohio State and Michigan State lost in triple overtime at Northwestern.

Both teams feature playmaking quarterbacks, as Penn State’s Trace McSorley ranks second in the Big Ten in points responsible for per game (18.0), while Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke ranks third (13.0). Lewerke is coming off a career game at Northwestern in which he set school single-game records for passing yards (445), total offense (475) and completions (39), while McSorley threw for a then-career-high 376 passing yards and four touchdowns in the Michigan State game last season.

Both teams are strong defensively. Penn State’s scoring defense (13.2 points per game) ranks second in the Big Ten and seventh in FBS, while Michigan State’s total defense (283.4 yards per game) ranks third in the Big Ten and eighth in FBS.

Penn State returns home following its trip to East Lansing for its final two home games of the season. The final homestand begins with Rutgers on Veterans Day for Homecoming at noon and concludes the following week against Nebraska.


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