11th No. Penn State suppressed MSU’s offense all night Friday, then used long drives to wear down the Spartans’ defense and win 42-0. For the Spartans (4-8, 2-7 Big Ten), it was their second shutout loss of the year; on October 21, they also fell to No. 2 Michigan 49-0. “Obviously, it was another disappointing loss,” interim head coach Harlon Barnett stated. “I wish we had done better in the season’s final game. Though it is what it is, I was hoping to compete and place higher than we did.
Most of the 51,927 spectators in the finale were left frustrated by the second half, when many of the problems that had dogged MSU all season long surfaced. Katin Houser struggled the entire game against the fierce Nittany Lions defense (10-2, 7-2). And when a run call on third-and-31 and J.D. Duplain’s shotgun snap midway through the third quarter soared over Houser’s head for a 21-yard loss, the Spartan supporters in the Ford Field stands let out one last round of jeers for a coaching staff that will almost certainly be fired in the next few days.
RAINER SABI: Following Penn State’s victory, MSU ought to seize the opportunity for a fresh start. For MSU, it was a devastating loss of epic and historical proportions.
The Spartans’ total yardage of 53 was the lowest in program history, falling 4 short of the 57 against Auburn in 1938 and 3 short of the previous low of 56 against U-M in 1947. Only the minus-48 total against Alabama in the 2011 Capital One Bowl was greater than their minus-35 rushing yards, which was the second-lowest in school history. They had the fourth fewest first downs in school history with five. “It goes without saying that nobody anticipated what transpired. “No one would ever hope for it to occur,” said Nate Carter, a sophomore running back. “However, we persisted and chased the entire season. Everyone persevered, including the coaches and players, and we tried our best to maintain our unity and close out the game strongly. Ultimately, it serves as a lesson in life.”
We’re a hardy bunch. Senior linebacker Aaron Brule said, “It’s a group of guys that I think really really loves each other.” “Every day, we practice fighting as hard as we can for each other. I believe that in the middle of everything, we were only concerned with winning games. Even though the outcomes may not have been what we had hoped for, we can still say that we learned a lot and that the guys have become stronger as a result of the entire ordeal.”
