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Michigan State Football: 5 takeaways from upset of Penn State in Week 10

By Connor Muldowney

EAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 04: Juwan Johnson #84 of the Penn State Nittany Lions can't make a second half catch next to Justin Layne #2 of the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on November 4, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 27-24.(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 04: Juwan Johnson #84 of the Penn State Nittany Lions can't make a second half catch next to Justin Layne #2 of the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on November 4, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 27-24.(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State football pulled off a big upset over No. 7 Penn State on Saturday afternoon and here’s what we learned.

Can you believe it? Michigan State is 7-2 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play after another thrilling upset by these young Spartans. They took down No. 7 Penn State on Saturday afternoon following a 3.5-hour rain delay which essentially emptied Spartan Stadium.

When the game resumed, the conditions were still less than fair, but Michigan State wasn’t worried and it found a way to put the Nittany Lions on upset alert, ending the game thanks to a field goal in the final seconds by Matt Coghlin.

Michigan State controls its own destiny in the Big Ten title race and if the Spartans are able to win out, they will be playing a team like Wisconsin for the conference crown. Who could have seen that potential Big Ten title matchup coming at the beginning of the year?

Here’s what we learned from the Spartans’ Week 10 victory over Penn State.

5. Run game is still concerning

Another game, another lackluster performance on the ground. It was an ugly showing for Michigan State’s run game as LJ Scott happened to be the leading rusher with only 43 yards on 14 carries. That’s a far cry from his performance against Minnesota a few weeks back.

The Spartans, as a team, ran the ball 24 times for 74 yards and a touchdown. That’s not ideal, but it’s looking like the coaches are starting to abandon the run when it’s not working rather than sticking with it like they have in the past. That’s not the worst idea.

With Brian Lewerke playing well lately, the run game doesn’t have to carry the load. However, it’ll be crucial for this team to get back on track, ground-wise, in order to hang with Ohio State in Week 11. They need to average more than 3.1 yards per touch.

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