The regular-season schedule for the Michigan State Spartans and first-year head coach Mel Tucker came to a close this afternoon in Happy Valley, as the Penn State Nittany Lions earned a come-from-behind 39-24 victory.
The Spartans held a 21-10 advantage at halftime, but Penn State found a way to rally back to win the Land Grant Trophy for the second straight year. For the home team, it was their second straight win after an inexplicable winless start to their season, the first time they’d gone winless in their first five games in program history.
“Like I said before, we’re building a football team and it’s a process,” coach Tucker explained in his post-game presser. “It’s a process-driven culture, and as I mentioned earlier this week, we need to play complementary football for four quarters. It’s crystal clear today what we’ve been talking about and what we’ve been striving for.”
Though the Spartans appeared to have the game well in hand during the first half, Penn State rattled off a 29-3 run to complete the comeback. Sean Clifford went 17-for-27 for 232 yards and two touchdowns, while MSU’s Payton Thorne finished 22-for-39 for 325 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
For Tucker, it will be imperative for his team to compete for four full quarters, and not just one half.
“In the 1st half, we played complementary football. Offense, defense, special teams, guys played hard,” Tucker said. “We had execution and we had success. In the 2nd half, we did not do that.”
The Spartans now await their Week 9 opponent, though it isn’t clear who it will be or when the game will be played.
