50 defining moments from the 2021 Michigan State football season: No. 38

Day 13 of this Michigan State football series brings us home against Penn State and highlights the most underrated receiver from last season, Tre Mosley.

Welcome back to day 13 of this 50-day Michigan State football series. Normally, 13 is an unlucky number, but this play only brought good luck for the Spartans on senior day. Yesterday was the home opener, and today is the final home game of the 2021 season. Time really does fly.

For those of you who missed yesterday’s article, please click here. If you would like to look at previous articles of this series, feel free to scroll through my writing profile.

No. 38: Tre Mosley 9-yard TD reception from Payton Thorne

Video: ESPN 

Why No. 38?

This moment gave the Spartans an early 14-0 lead, capping off a 99-yard drive that demoralized Penn State. Despite the Nittany Lions’ 7-6 record in the 2021 campaign, they were a tough team. Penn State proved this on their next few drives, tying the game up at 14 early in the second quarter.

Without this play by Mosley, the Spartans would be looking at a much tougher road to get victory No. 10 of the season. Penn State kept it close and even grabbed the lead, but the Spartans would seize momentum with a few crucial plays by Walker, Thorne, and Reed that will be featured in later articles.

Mosley had a solid but unspectacular 2021 campaign, catching three touchdowns and recording over 500 receiving yards. While primed for a breakout 2022, his 2021 season also provided quite a few moments that will be recorded later in this list. When making the moments, I was surprised how much Mosley did behind the scenes to set the stage for Michigan State’s phenomenal season. His two touchdowns against Purdue are not featured in this list, but both were the only reason the Spartans remained in the game as long as they did.

On this play, despite the snow starting to come down heavy in Spartan Stadium, Thorne managed to keep his balance and keep the play alive long enough to find Mosley tight roping on the back of the endzone for a touchdown. He kept his feet inbounds and had his third touchdown of the season one second later.

This play was spectacular and gave MSU a two-touchdown advantage over their rival. The reason this play cannot be rated higher is that Penn State would overcome this deficit to tie the game and then later take a lead in the third quarter. Without this touchdown, Michigan State does not win, but this play did not shift any momentum for a Spartan victory, unlike some of the plays higher on this list.

In my opinion, this was one of Thorne’s best plays of 2021. He was under duress and had to scramble out of the pocket in the snow and could still find an open receiver to give the Spartans six points.

Statistically, this was Mosley’s third and final touchdown of the season. For Thorne, this was the 23rd of his season, moving him within striking distance of Connor Cook’s (24 touchdowns) and Kirk Cousins’ (25) single-season passing touchdown records at MSU.

Tomorrow, you will see the return of a big-time play by a big-time player, some might even call him a Speedy threat.