web1_pens_hershey3_faa.jpg

Jarry guides Pens to 10th straight home win

Woman charged with public intoxication in Wilkes-Barre

EAST LANSING, Mich. &#8212; Sparty was officially toying with Penn State.On a day when Michigan State scored eight touchdowns, the last two were scored by a combined 571 pounds of Spartan green.One play from scrimmage after defensive tackle Malik McDowell took a tipped pass into the end zone for a touchdown &#8212; and after a Penn State fumble on the ensuing kickoff, naturally &#8212; the Spartans handed the ball off to their center.Yes, their center.Not only did Jack Allen score a 9-yard touchdown in Michigan State&#8217;s 55-16 stomping of Penn State, he scored it by taking it off tackle out of the shotgun.The Spartans had some fun with a toothless Nittany Lions defense missing its top two defensive ends on their way to clinching the Big Ten East title.Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, sore throwing shoulder and all, was not sacked. He was not hurried. He was not so much as knocked to the ground once.&#8220;Nope. I didn&#8217;t get touched once,&#8221; Cook confirmed after the game.&#8220;We did not dictate the game to them. They were able to dictate the game to us,&#8221; Lions coach James Franklin said. &#8220;The biggest issue for us &#8212; we&#8217;ve been at our best when we get pressure on the quarterback, whether that&#8217;s from blitzing or from a four down (linemen) rush and playing coverage behind it.&#8221;With Carl Nassib (hamstring) and Garrett Sickels (undisclosed) both out with injuries, the Lions didn&#8217;t come close to bothering Cook, who had missed the last six quarters with an injury of his own.As a result, the Spartans converted 8 of 10 third-down plays when the starters were still in the game to extend drives against an overmatched defense.&#8220;Obviously he was comfortable in the pocket,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Their offensive line and defensive lines are the strength of their team. We&#8217;ve been able to get pressure on everybody all year long, but when you take away your starting defensive ends off of your unit that&#8217;ll take an effect.&#8221;Michigan State will head to Indianapolis next week to take on undefeated Iowa with the Big Ten title and a likely spot in the College Football Playoff on the line.Penn State, meanwhile, finished the regular season with three straight losses to ranked teams. The Lions (7-5, 4-4 Big Ten) will now await an invitation to a mid-tier bowl game next Sunday.Right now, that&#8217;s not on the minds of Penn State players, who could only shake their heads at how quickly things spiraled out of control after trailing 20-10 at halftime.&#8220;It stinks, man,&#8221; said senior center Angelo Mangiro, who has just one game left in his Penn State career. &#8220;I know, myself, we played better than the score reflects. That&#8217;s what makes it hurt more.&#8221;As strange as it sounds, Mangiro wasn&#8217;t wrong. Penn State&#8217;s maligned offense amazingly kept pace with the No. 5 Spartans, finishing with 418 yards to Michigan State&#8217;s 436. And it wasn&#8217;t inflated by backups playing in the fourth quarter &#8212; the Lions were on pace to top 500 yards at halftime.And they were still losing by 10 points headed into the locker room.An interception in the end zone on a deep ball. Another goal line failure. A fumble by Kyle Carter after a catch near the red zone was returned 77 yards for a touchdown.&#8220;They took advantage of our mistakes,&#8221; said quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who threw for 257 yards and two scores to Chris Godwin but also had his first multi-interception game of the season. &#8220;You can&#8217;t do that against a good team. You can&#8217;t make that many mistakes. We just have to learn from it and get better.&#8221;There&#8217;s plenty of room for that as the Lions try to find a way to compete with the Big Ten&#8217;s elite.In two seasons against Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan and Northwestern &#8212; all top-25 teams at the moment &#8212; Franklin and the Lions have gone 0-8 and have been outscored 263-116.&#8220;We haven&#8217;t been able to get it done at that level yet,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;The upper-tier teams in this conference, we&#8217;ve gotta close the gap on them. There&#8217;s no doubt about it.&#8220;We have a lot of work to do, obviously.&#8221;No. 5 Michigan State 55, Penn State 16Penn State`0`10`0`6`&#8212;`16Michigan St.`6`14`14`21`&#8212;`55First QuarterMSU &#8212; R.J. Shelton 29 pass from Connor Cook (kick failed), 9:35Second QuarterPSU &#8212; Tyler Davis 19 field goal, 14:14MSU &#8212; Gerald Holmes 6 run (Michael Geiger kick), 7:12MSU &#8212; Demetrious Cox 77 fumble return (Geiger kick), 2:36PSU &#8212; Chris Godwin 8 pass from Christian Hackenberg (Davis kick), 0:35Third QuarterMSU &#8212; Aaron Burbridge 29 pass from Cook (Geiger kick), 11:40MSU &#8212; Josiah Price 6 pass from Cook (Geiger kick), 3:31Fourth QuarterPSU &#8212; Godwin 5 pass from Hackenberg (pass failed), 14:51MSU &#8212; L.J. Scott 6 run (Geiger kick), 11:18MSU &#8212; Malik McDowell 13 interception return (Geiger kick), 9:56MSU &#8212; Jack Allen 9 run (Geiger kick), 9:48Team stats`PSU`MSUFirst downs`20`24Rushes-yards`25-122`38-188Passing`296`248Comp-Att-Int`27-47-2`19-27-0Return Yards`1`25Punts-Avg.`3-46.7`2-41.5Fumbles-Lost`3-2`3-1Penalties-Yards`6-45`4-19Possession`30:12`29:48INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; PSU, Saquon Barkley 17-103, Brandon Polk 1-25, Trace McSorley 1-(minus 3), Christian Hackenberg 6-(minus 3). MSU, Gerald Holmes 12-64, L.J. Scott 11-41, Madre London 1-20, Paul-Michael Williams 4-19, Delton Williams 4-18, Aaron Burbridge 3-16, Jack Allen 1-9, Tyler O&#8217;Connor 1-6, Connor Cook 1-(minus 5).PASSING &#8212; PSU, Hackenberg 22-39-2-257, McSorley 5-8-0-39. MSU, Cook 19-26-0-248, O&#8217;Connor 0-1-0-0.RECEIVING &#8212; PSU, Chris Godwin 11-109, DaeSean Hamilton 8-78, Barkley 3-(minus 1), Eugene Lewis 2-14, Saeed Blacknall 1-77, Kyle Carter 1-10, Brent Wilkerson 1-9. MSU, Burbridge 6-75, R.J. Shelton 4-74, Holmes 3-36, Josiah Price 3-33, Jamal Lyles 1-18, Williams 1-8, Macgarrett Kings 1-4.A &#8212; 74,705.<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Penn-St-Michigan-St-F_Sopr-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg, center, is sacked by Michigan State&#8217;s Joel Heath (92) and Lawrence Thomas, right, during the second quarter of Saturday&#8217;s game in East Lansing, Mich. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Penn-St-Michigan-St-F_Sopr-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg, center, is sacked by Michigan State&#8217;s Joel Heath (92) and Lawrence Thomas, right, during the second quarter of Saturday&#8217;s game in East Lansing, Mich. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Franklin is 0-8 vs. top tier Big 10 teams</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>VIDEOTo see video of Penn State head coach James Franklin talk about the team&#8217;s loss to Michigan State, check out the online version of this story at timesleader.com</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> 5UrA25uCQ3I</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UrA25uCQ3I</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> James Franklin talks MSU loss</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Derek Levarse</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</videoMeta></div>

Penn State mistakes fuel Michigan State victory